An Astral Drop in Heatherfield
by drakensis
Summary: Will was only trying to create decoys so that she and the other Guardians could rescue Taranee from Elyon. She never intended or expected to create life or to have to take responsibility for it.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer - The W.I.T.C.H. comic book was created by Elisabetta Gnone, Alessandro Barbucci and Barbara Canepa and published by Disney Italia. No infringement of the copyright is intended.

Author's Notes: This story is based on the comic/novel continuity - although I hope it is still clear for anyone only familiar with the cartoon, there are some rather significant differences in the plot (for one thing, don't expect to see Caleb for a while). Astral Drops were first seen in episode 8 of the cartoon's first season and the end of issue #3 of the comic. It was only after starting this that I watched episode 8 of the second season and issue #23 of the comic, where Will's astral drop becomes a character in her own right. This story diverges from issue #4 of the comic and the corresponding novel (The Fire of Friendship).

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**An Astral Drop in Heatherfield**

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My first memory is of a cave by the sea.

I didn't know who I was, or where I came from but I was facing a redheaded girl and surrounded by several others. All of them except the girl I was facing were in pairs, exactly alike in appearance and clothes. It took me a few moments to realise that I was paired with the redhead.

Her copy. An astral drop, she called me.

There were memories, but they were a thin shadow of those that the others had: the other three like me each appeared to have the full memory and mannerisms of their originals.

"Complete idiot!" one of the 'real girls' shouted. "Why did you make something like that? She's useless!"

My original hung her head. "I... when I was making her I was afraid that..."

"...that your astral drop would take your place in Heatherfield?" asked a blonde girl. I should have known her name then (it's Cornelia, I learned later).

"Well it's only a little mistake. Will can make another one," the first girl suggested. I couldn't help but feel a bit wounded at that. I was just going to be discarded? Then again, what else would one do with some_thing_ that was useless? I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to crush the hollow feeling I felt at the idea.

Cornelia shook her head. "I don't think she can, Irma."

"Cornelia's right," the redhead agreed. "This is my problem and I want to solve it myself." She opened a knapsack and pulled out paper and a pen. "Look I'll write everything you need to do on this piece of paper. Can you read?"

I was relieved to realize that I did at least know that. "Of course. Er... just one question?"

She nodded. "Sure."

"Who's Will?"

There were groans from the other girls.

"I am," she told me. "But you have to pretend to be me."

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"One more time, from the beginning," asked Will as we left the cave.

"Okay." I consulted the schedule she'd made out for me, feeling more comfortable with the idea with something concrete to guide me. And more comfortable with myself that Will was trusting me. "Seven AM, wake up. Seven-fifteen, shower. Seven-fifty-five, kiss for mom, breakfast and..."

Will nodded and picked out her bike for me. Riding it... yes! I knew how to ride a bike! Good! "Alright," she reminded me. "Follow the instructions so you won't make mistakes. And remember..."

"To learn the things I'm not allowed to do?"

She nodded again.

"Got it!" I assured her and mounted the bike.

It didn't take long to get out of sight of the cave but I couldn't help but look around in wonder. The whole world was new to me and the fact that it was dark anywhere not lit by streetlights really didn't matter. I pedaled until my legs grew tired, having completely forgotten about following the directions I'd been given to get back to Will's apartment.

Looking around I didn't recognise any landmarks except the river. My directions hadn't said anything about it, but I knew I'd crossed it so I headed for a bridge and stopped on the sidewalk there, checking the student ID in my pocket to get the name of the street. Maybe I could ask directions... otherwise I'd have to ride around checking street names until I got lucky.

No sooner had I put my - Will's? no, she'd not given me hers, so it must be mine - purse away than I saw a car with blue and red lights on the roof cruising past me. I wasn't sure what it was at first, but the word POLICE on the side gave it away.

I'd mounted the bike and was pedaling slowly (what do you want, I'd been riding for at least an hour, I was tired!) off the bridge when I saw the police car stop and then reverse slightly. There didn't seem to be anyone else around so I guessed that they must be doing it because of me - which was kind of scary because the police car was waaaay bigger than me and the bike combined.

(If I forgot to mention it, Will was thirteen and kind of short. So I was the same size, even if I was only a few hours old).

Fortunately the car came to a halt and the driver poked his head out of his window. "Hey, I thought it was you. Isn't it a bit late for you to be out?"

"...uh..." Will hadn't mentioned any men I should be aware of, much less any policemen!

He took off his hat so I could see him more clearly. "I'm Irma's dad, remember?"

Irma... oh, hey, that was the loud girl from earlier. "Uh... I'm kinda lost," I admitted sheepishly.

He rolled his eyes. "You kids... okay, where do you live?"

I told him. I mean, he was a policeman and he was Irma's dad. That was probably okay? Will could have mentioned that to me. Then again, she did give me directions to go straight home so maybe she didn't expect it to come up. I'd have to check my instructions as soon as I could.

Irma's dad whistled. "You really _are_ lost." He reached into the car for a moment and the trunk popped open. "We'd better get you a ride home. Do you think that your bike will fit in the trunk?"

It did - mostly - although I needed his help to lift it in. Being short is definitely not my favourite thing.

Much to my chagrin, the first thing he did when we strapped into the seats (I was riding in the back) was turn around and go back across the bridge. I guess I must have crossed the river without realising it at some point.

"So do you have a boyfriend?" he asked, looking back over his shoulder. "'Cause Irma's got this boy Martin from her class who keeps dropping by and asking her out."

I felt my cheeks get hot for some reason.

"Heh. You kids grow up so fast."

Hey! I didn't say anything. What sort of conversation was he having anyway?

After a few minutes he pulled up outside a tall apartment building. "Okay, here you are. Want me to walk you up?"

I shrugged. "If you don't think I can make it that far. I'm gonna need your help getting my bike out of the back though."

"You're welcome."

I flushed again. "And thanks for giving me a ride."

"My pleasure," he assured me and got out of the car.

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I was able to figure out locking up my - er, Will's - bike onto the rack without too much trouble and I even found her apartment on the first try. (Let's not talk about how many of the keys in her pocket it took before I figured out the right combination to open the apartment door.)

Now I _meant_ to scout out the apartment and find which room was which before I went to bed...

Except that I was kind of tired, and the couch looked really comfortable...

The next thing I knew there was sunlight on my face and I discovered that somehow a blanket had found its way to cover me while I was sleeping.

Oh man! My instructions said I should sleep in Will's bed! I was messing this up all over the place.

"Well good morning, sleepy-head," a woman greeted me with amusement in her voice. Then she sneezed.

I thought quickly (okay, what passes for quickly when you're just barely awake). Will had mentioned a Mom, and she hadn't said anything about anyone else in the apartment. Then again, she'd not mentioned Irma's dad either. "Mom?" I rubbed my eyes and pretended to still be half-asleep. Instead of, you know, a quarter-asleep.

"Of course, silly." She reached down and tousled my hair. "You looked so adorable asleep on the couch I couldn't bear to move you. Were you..." Achtoo! "...sorry, were you waiting up for me?"

I nodded. I was obviously going to have to get used to this lying thing in a hurry.

"I'm sorry I was late," she said apologetically. "But I'm going to call in sick because of this cold so I'll be home all day today."

"Okay." I thought about my instructions. "I'll... come straight home from school?"

I got a big hug. There was something... oh yeah, I was supposed to kiss Mom! I think that was later but I couldn't see a clock or my instructions so I winged it and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Are you sure?" Mom asked. "I know you want to spend time with your friends."

My friends? Ah, Will's friends: Cornelia, Irma and... who was the other girl in the cave? Oh, but they were off on a Magical Girl adventure to rescue their other friend. So it would be their astral drops at school and after school, who'd all know each other because they had their proper memories and weren't defective like me. I sniffled a bit into Mom's shoulder.

"Oh Will... did you fall out with them?"

I mumbled something and let her draw her own conclusions.

"Oh honey. I'm sure they feel just as bad about it as you do. I'll put some extra cookies in your lunch. I'm sure that will help patch things up."

"Cookies?"

"Uh-huh!" She let go of me. "Now hadn't you better go shower and get dressed?"

With wonderful precision timing I was _in_ the shower when the doorbell rang.

"Willll! It's for you!" Mom called from the door.

I spent a minute trying to figure out how to wrap myself in a towel and settled for scrubbing myself as I ran back into Will's room and pulled on the pajamas still laid out to wear for last night.

"Will!"

"Coming!" I called back and scurried for the door. Mom was waiting with a tall, long-haired boy wearing a hat and cradling a small rodent. I wasn't sure if I was expected to scream in terror or coo in delight so I settled for an awkward wave of the hand. "Hi."

"Um, hi Will." I think he would have waved back but his arms were fully engaged with a suddenly hyper little critter. "I brought the dormouse back. I know it's only..." He checked his watch. "Um... ten to eight..."

I accepted the little creature without protest - largely because I was mentally castigating Will as best I could. She didn't mention a pet, she didn't mention this boy... _What else had she forgotten!?_

(Okay, in retrospect, I was being unfair. Will had had perhaps fifteen minutes to write my instructions down. They could never have been good enough. Bear in mind, I had maybe twelve hours of life experience to judge by at this point, more than half of which I'd been asleep for).

"Thank you," I said politely, letting the dormouse (whatever that was) scramble up onto my shoulder and trying not to flinch as its claws dug in a bit through the pajama top. "I hope you didn't have too much trouble."

Matt gave me an awkward look. "I don't think my parents were terribly happy about him making noise all night. Particularly on such short notice." That was a little bit pointed.

_Will!_ "I'm really really sorry. Yesterday was really crazy and everything came apart all at once." And I really really hope I can tell a convincing lie. "Please can you tell them I'm sorry?"

"Uh, sure. Is... everything okay now?"

I gave him a smile. "It's better. Thank you."

"Uh, any time."

Something over my shoulder seemed to give him qualms. "Er, I'll see you at school then?"

"Sure!"

Once the door was closed I turned around. Mom gave me a peculiar look. "Will, I know I rushed you, but you really could have finished buttoning your pajama top."

I looked down and saw that while I had covered the essentials, the boy must have seen my midriff where the top was gaping due to mis-aligned buttons. "oooo." My face was going red again.

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I get the distinct impression I was running late when I reached Sheffield Institute. Something about the grounds being deserted as I locked up Will's bike and dashed inside.

Fortunately I the corridors weren't empty yet, so I was able to slip into the class room my directions from Will led to just ahead of the bell. I spotted Cornelia - or at least her astral drop - sitting a row back from where I wound up so I couldn't even look to her for guidance.

I had to focus: I'd slipped up earlier and had to do some pretty fancy footwork to get out of it. But I couldn't count on being that lucky again. I'd read and re-read the schedule until I practically had it memorised.

First class was Mathematics. How hard could it be?

Of course, it would help if I had any memories of any past classes. The teacher didn't ask me anything so I wasn't obviously ignorant, but that was just because he was new and gave everyone a test to see how good we are at maths. I took my best guess but the only part I was sure I got right was when I scribbled Will's name at the top. And even that was a lie.

"You're looking depressed," 'Cornelia' told me as she subtly guided me to the next class. Hopefully English would be easier.

"I think I flunked that test pretty badly."

She laughed. "Maths has never been your subject, 'Will'," she assured me. "We'll still have to think of a forfeit for you though. Maybe you should ask Professor Collins for tutoring."

"Professor Collins?" I dug into my bag and pulled out the class schedule. "But he teaches history, not maths... doesn't he?"

"Hmm... you really don't remember anything do you?"

I gave her a confused look. "What? You know I don't. Oh. Quick question. That guy in our class, long hair - two seats to my right..."

"Matt?"

"Okay. Are he and... you know, friends?"

"What, no!" She shook her head. "At least I don't think you are. Elyon had a crush on him though."

"Who?"

'Cornelia' gave me a pained look. "I'll tell you later," she promised as we went into the classroom.

English actually was better: we were supposed to read out from a play. Well I can read okay, or at least I thought I could. This was in some sort of old English (how that differs from normal English I'm not sure) with lots of words that I didn't know or that didn't mean what I expected them to mean.

Still it was better than Maths.

"You're really getting into this," 'Cornelia' muttered - I'd managed to snag a seat next to her this time.

"Well it's fun," I replied quietly. "Er... Shouldn't _I_ enjoy it?"

'Cornelia' shrugged slightly. "Will's kind of shy."

"Oh." Another blunder.

"Well it's too late now," she advised. "Just keep going."

And that's what I did all the way to lunch.

The five of us gathered at what they told me was our regular table in the cafeteria.

"So you don't remember anything?" 'Irma' asked. "That's really weird. Dad said he had to drive you home last night after he found you roaming the streets late at night."

"I got lost," I mumbled around one of the cookies that Mom had packed for my lunch.

'Hay Lin' nodded. "It must be hard not to have Will's memories to guide you. But I'm sure they'll be back soon and everything will be alright."

The other four astral drops all nodded their heads, 'Taranee' being the most vigorous. Her original had been missing for days now, captured by Cedric when they had strayed through a portal into Metamoor: the world beyond. If the other four couldn't rescue her... Who knew what might be happening to her?

"But... what if they aren't?" I asked nervously. There was an ugly feeling in my chest. I wanted Will to come back so I didn't have to keep up this deception any more... but at the same time, the idea of her return frightened me.

'Cornelia' flicked her long hair. "Don't worry about it. I'm far too beautiful to be stopped by some monster from Metamoor."

"So what are we doing after school?" 'Irma' asked. "Want to go to the mall, Cornelia?"

"Sounds great," the blonde agreed. "Do you want to come along, Will?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm going to go straight home. It's on my schedule."

They giggled at that. I guess it must have seemed very silly to them that I had to follow a plan instead of having the information to decide what to do on my own.

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Someone had trashed the bike shed (again, from Cornelia's comments). I will not name names (because I don't _know_ the names) but I suspect the four boys who departed sniggering just as we got there. Just a guess. 'Cornelia' waved her hand as if that would straighten things out and looked notably put out when it didn't. I guess it would have worked for the real Cornelia.

"So, Elyon?" I asked quietly as we untangled our bikes from the pile.

"She's my best friend. We've been in the same class since we were little." Her face was expressionless. "The night after the Halloween party, Elyon lured 'you', Irma and Hay Lin into the gym and almost got you captured by two monsters from Metamoor. Then when we lost Taranee she was there with them."

"Oh."

"Yeah." With a grimace, the blonde examined her bicycle. "So why were you asking about Matt?"

"He visited me - Will - before school to return her pet dormouse. I didn't even know she had one!"

"That must of been awkward," she agreed.

I blushed at the memory.

"What's this?" 'Cornelia' gave me an amused look. "Oh, is Elyon not the only one with a crush on him?"

"It's not like that," I protested. "I just had a little... clothing malfunction."

She gasped. "Oooh! You're so bold! I never would have guessed! Irma and Hay Lin have to hear this. Tell me all the juicy details!"

"There are no juicy details." My voice may have risen just a little as I scrambled onto my own bike.

"Of course not," my fellow astral drop agreed with a sly grin. "He's really cute though, isn't he?"

I declined to comment and she waved after me. "See you tomorrow."

"Only if they don't come back," I whispered.

I paid very close attention to my route on the way back. Getting lost a second time would be really dumb. And it gave me something else to think about... whether our originals would return.

Don't get me wrong. I didn't want them to fail or for any of them to come to harm. Well, maybe Irma, but even then I only mean a _little_ harm. Something to give her a scare or something. But...

Yes, but. Because when they come back, we all go away.

That's the whole point of us. To take their places until they return. After that they won't need us and we'll... disappear?

I honestly wasn't sure of the... magical mechanics and I hadn't thought to ask the other astral drops if they did. But surely our originals wouldn't want us to be around once they were here again. So that would be it. All the life I would have was what I had until Will came back.

(Okay, _maybe_ concentrating on not getting lost wasn't doing a very good job of distracting me from thinking about this.)

It wasn't until I cycled into the yard outside the apartment building that I remembered what Will and Cornelia (the real ones had said) in the cave when I was created. She'd been afraid that I would replace her.

Could I do that?

I didn't so much dismount my - her - bicycle as fall off it. Everything I'd eaten at lunch came boiling up out of me and spattered across the ground and my shoes.

The idea terrified me with the power that it had over my imagination. The chance to wake up every morning for breakfast with Mom... to go to school and have my own grades and my own favorite classes and teachers... to be friends with Cornelia and Matt and Hay Lin and Taranee...

I wiped my mouth with the back of my sleeve and locked up the bike in a daze.

They wouldn't be my friends, I reminded myself. Not if I'd stolen away the life of their friend Will.

Could I pretend to be her?

What was I even thinking? I shuddered. She would hardly let me do that, it was her own nightmare. And I didn't know anything much about her life really. Anyone suspicious would only have to ask a few questions to know that I was an imposter.

It could never work.

And even to try would be to betray her.

Betray the girl who'd given me life, given me everything I had.

_But only as a loan. Only until she takes it away from you_, a treacherous voice whispered inside of me. _Including your life_.

My forehead collided with the apartment door. "Ugh." I leant against it, fumbling in my jacket pockets until I found the keys. Getting them into the correct keyholes was as bad as the night before. It might have helped if I could keep my eyes open without tears forming.

After a moment I gave up. I couldn't go in like this, Mom would know that something was up. I had to get myself together first.

I turned around and sat down in the hallway, back against the door. Okay, let's try to look at this logically.

If I was to take Will's place I'd have to make her disappear somehow, I realised. She'd never stand for it... and I'd be doing to her exactly what I was afraid of her doing to me.

Do it to her before she did it to me? That wouldn't make it right. And besides, like I'd thought earlier, I couldn't keep up the pretense forever. Maybe one of the other astral drops might have been able to, but I couldn't.

So I couldn't, shouldn't and wouldn't try to get rid of Will to take over her life. If she came back, when she came back... her life would be hers again.

I wasn't her and I wasn't going to try to be her. However much I wanted to have Will's life, I wouldn't give up who I was for it. I wanted my own life not a cheap copy of hers.

Making that decision didn't make my situation any better, but the hollow feeling that I'd been having ever since the cave began to fade away. Perhaps it was because I made the right decision... or perhaps it was because _I_ had made that decision, not Will. I was going to take charge of _my_ life and not surrender it to her.

Okay. I might not know yet what I _was_ going to do, but I knew what I _wasn't_ going to. It was a start. Fishing into my pocket I pulled out a hankie and blew my nose before mopping at my face. Okay, now to face Will's Mom before she wondered if I'd changed my mind about coming straight home from school.

This time I managed to get the door open on only my third attempt.

"Welcome home," Mom greeted me from the couch. She lifted the TV remote and muted whatever it was she was watching. Then she frowned. "Have you been crying?"

Well so much for my hasty face cleaning. "I'm feeling kind of sick. I sorta... tossed my cookies outside."

"Oh Will!" She jumped up and I got dragged into a hug. "Did you have a bad day at school?"

"It was... okay. There was a Maths test. I didn't feel ill until I was riding home."

She let me loose and then pulled a thermometer out of the various things she'd stacked on the table by the couch. (I think she'd just holed up there all day). "Do you think you'll be sick again?"

"I don't _think_ so," I admitted uncertainly.

She stuck the thermometer into my mouth.

"Mmmm mmm mm?"

"Don't take it out for couple of seconds," she told me. "You might be coming down with something."

I sat obediently with it in my mouth until Mom was satisfied and checked the result. "Well you don't have a temperature." She gave me a little push. "Why don't you have a shower, put on your pajamas and we can curl up here until we feel better?"

"That sounds... really good."

"I'll order pizza," she offered. "Do you want the usual?"

What was pizza? Still, 'the usual' was probably safe. I nodded and headed for my bedroom to get the pajamas.

"And then we can talk about that boy, Matt."

Erk. That's pretty much the sound I made.

Mom gave me a little wave to get moving. "And remember to button your top properly."

It took me about ten minutes to get back into the lounge, having spent a good five of them in the shower. The hot water just seemed to wash everything away.

Mom was putting down the phone when I got back. "I didn't get to tell you this morning, but I was going to have a guest for dinner," she told me. "It's probably a good thing he couldn't make it with us both unwell."

"He?" Who had she invited? Not Matt, surely? Will's father perhaps? He hadn't been in evidence this morning and she hadn't mentioned him in the instructions.

"Mr. Collins." She waited a moment for a reaction that I evidently failed to get. "Your history teacher?"

"Oh! _Professor_ Collins!" Why, oh why, hadn't I asked 'Cornelia' what she meant about him? "Why was he coming for dinner?"

That got a sigh. "I know it's difficult for you with him being your teacher, but Dean's a nice man. He's a friend, a good friend..."

"Just friends?"

"Maybe more than that," Mom conceded. "Would it really be so bad if I started dating again?"

Oh, this is just great. If I get this wrong... "I'm not... keen on that, Mom. But I can't actually think of a reason you shouldn't..."

"Thank you dear."

"I _do_ think you could do better."

"Oh?" She arched her back girlishly and for a moment I was actually jealous. "Should I steal Matt away from you?"

"It's not like that, Mom," I whined.

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Later I lay on Will's bed and looked up at the ceiling.

Her Mom had decided to have a nap after the pizza (which was apparently food and very tasty food at that). If I was lucky that 'nap' would last all night - having a cold must be tiring because she looked much sleepier than I felt and she hadn't had to go to school.

Of course that still left me with what to do about Will.

It seemed to me that there were two possibilities: either she would come back or she wouldn't. There was nothing I could do to influence that. And there was no way of knowing how long it would take before she could get back. If she took too long then I'd probably be found out before she got back.

That meant...

I rolled over on the bed and closed my eyes.

Okay, two plans. One for her coming back and one for when I decided she wasn't likely to come back. No, that was wrong. I'd need three plans: the third one for if someone figured out I wasn't really Will.

A nasty thought crossed my mind. Will had created me through magic. What if... 'something' happening to her in Metamoor would make me vanish? Could I exist without her?

There was no way for me to know. I'd have to ask the others at school tomorrow, see if they had any idea. I shivered at the thought. I could just... vanish. Without warning. Without even knowing I was in danger.

I wish I knew how dangerous Metamoor was for her!

So I need three plans. Ummmm... Run away? Sounded good, but where too?

And when should I give up on Will coming back?

I opened my eyes and saw the folded piece of paper with Will's instructions on it. They just covered one day. Did that mean I should expect her sometime tonight? Or just that I should try to follow them every day until she got back?

I didn't think there was school every day. I'd have to ask Cornelia tomorrow. I could probably keep up the pretense for another few days at school. I really ought to make a list of questions to ask her.

Climbing out of bed I rifled through Will's desk until I found a notebook I could write in. Oh! I could use this to write down what's happened so far, I realised. That way Will doesn't get caught out at anything she missed without her having to absorb me!

I was scribbling down about being ill when I got back from school - I didn't think I needed to tell Will exactly why I'd felt ill. She'd probably not be very happy with me. Well, more unhappy than she was probably going to be anyway - when there was a noise against the window.

I gave it a puzzled look - this was on the third floor! - and saw something small bounce off it. What? Was someone throwing something at my - at Will's - bedroom window? I scrambled over and unlatched it just in time for the next projectile to bounce off my forehead. "Ow!" I caught it and realised it was just a fleck of gravel. Still - it could have hit me in the eye or something.

Looking down I was about to give whoever was down there a piece of my mind when I recognised who it was.

Will!

The fears I had had for her dropped away - she was there, not missing any obvious bits and not acting like one of her friends had died. They'd made it!

Then reality sank in. It meant that I was going to have to run _now_. And she was between me and the way out.

I leant out of the window, pointed at the bike shelter, then at myself and down at the bike shelter. Hopefully she'd understand that I meant I would go down to meet her there.

With that done I closed the window, scrawled another few lines onto the 'list of things Will should know' and chucked the 'questions for Cornelia' list into the bin. I wasn't going to have any chance to ask them.

Two minutes later I had pulled the clothes I'd worn the day out of before out of the laundry heap (there was a basket, it was overflowing) and hastily dragged them on. Then I took a deep breath...

And wandered out into the apartment's hall. I didn't check Mom's room - although I was very tempted - instead I walked into the kitchen and replaced the bin bag. If Mom suddenly emerged, either on my departure or Will's return, my reason for being out was taking the trash down. The pizza box alone was large enough to justify not keeping it in the kitchen longer than necessary.

Will was waiting for me by the bicycle rack. I stopped halfway there and dropped the bag.

"What's the matter?" she asked and started walking towards me.

I raised my hand for her to halt and then gestured to the bag. "If Mom asks why you stepped out, you were taking out the trash."

"Good idea. You don't have to explain though. I'll remember everything when I absorb you." She took another step forwards.

I took a step back. "I'm not going to let you do that."

"What?"

I pulled out the list and dropped it on the ground. "This should explain." Then I turned and ran out of the yard and onto the street.

"Wait!" I couldn't see Will chase me, but from the sound of feet hitting the tarmac that's what she was doing. "Come back!"

I rounded a corner and got out of her line of sight. I only had to get half a block before there was an alleyway I could get into and hopefully she was tired from her adventure and wouldn't be able to keep running as long as I could. Once I was a couple of corners ahead, she wouldn't know where I was going.

Of course...

...nor did I.

I ducked and weaved through the streets, hoping I wouldn't run myself into a dead end. After a few blocks I ducked behind a car to catch my breath and listened out for any sounds of pursuit.

Nothing.

"Lost her," I muttered, slumping against the car.

"Lost who?"

"Mwaaaah!" I tried to jump up, lost my balance and fell over, knocking my head against the car.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't hurt myself or anything, it was just a little knock. The only serious damage was to my dignity.

"Whoa, that looked awkward," Matt said and crouched to offer me his hand. "Are you okay?"

"I think I'll live," I sighed. "I'm just having an... interesting day." I took his hand and he pulled me upright.

He grinned. "I know the feeling. Is your dormouse getting along okay?"

"He seems to be settling back in. Probably gearing up for another night time rampage."

"You mean he's like that every night?" the boy asked. "How do you get any sleep?"

"That doesn't seem to be a problem, just picking up after him in the morning." Hopefully I wasn't straying too far from the truth. "Mom says I'm a bit of a heavy sleeper."

"I guess he's the perfect pet for you them." Matt looked at our hands and I realised I hadn't let go after he helped me up.

"hehehe. Sorry." I loosened my fingers and let our hands part. What the heck is wrong with me?

"It's fine. So, who are you hiding from?"

"Just someone I didn't want to speak to right now," I hedged.

"One of those conversations you'd rather put off forever?"

"Exactly!"

He laughed. "I've had a few of those myself. If you don't mind some advice, it can be easier just to get them over with."

Well, I guess it was too much to expect him to understand. "Not this sort thing, believe me." I dusted off my pants. "I'd probably better get home before Mom starts worrying. Nice to see you again, Matt."

"Sure." I got a few paces and then he called: "Will? Don't you live sort of..." I turned and saw him pointing off in the other direction. "This way?"

"I'm... going round a couple of blocks. Just to avoid that conversation, you know?"

"Well, okay. See you at school tomorrow!"

"Sure!" That actually sounded rather nice. It was a shame that it wouldn't be happening.

I turned another corner and found myself on a busier street. Well this should make me harder to spot - there weren't many kids my age going in and out of the restaurants along here so everyone was taller than me. I pulled up the hood of my coat and hid my red hair, which might be kind of distinctive.

Okay, I'd gotten away from Will. But I still needed to figure out where to go.

A burst of noise as one door opened caught my attention and I saw that it came from a place called the Silver Dragon. Through the windows it looked warm and hospitable, quite different from the streets. More like the apartment.

Well, there was no going back. And I couldn't go in - I'd need money and I didn't have any.

I was just giving the Silver Dragon one last look when a familiar face caught my eye.

Unfortunately, she'd spotted me too. Hay Lin was wearing an apron and had just delivered a tray of food to one of the window table. She brightened - her face almost literally lightened - and gave me a wave.

Somewhat hesitantly I waved back and then forced a smile onto my face. I don't think that it was very convincing because she tilted her head quizzically and then said something to the couple at the table before scurrying in the direction of the door.

Oops. I turned and ran for the next corner.

I couldn't risk drifting around here any longer. Who knew who I'd run into next? Irma out for a drive with her dad?

I needed a destination, but for now, away would have to do.

W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.

The cave hadn't changed since last night: an opening in the cliffs behind one of what I guessed was probably one of several small beaches along Heatherfield's coast. The water was a little higher than I recalled but still a good distance from the entrance.

It was cold and it had taken a good bit longer than I'd expected for me to walk here. I hadn't appreciated just how much faster it was to ride a bicycle. And it would probably have been faster to come straight here from home - from Will's home - than to get lost a couple of times.

I hadn't thought of this cave when I ran away. Not until I was halfway across Heatherfield and pretty much lost.

Will and her friends might well come looking for me, but they'd look in Heatherfield first. It was the only place I knew and while I'm sure there are other towns and cities I'm not sure how to get to them. And I knew that except for Taranee and Will they'd lived in Heatherfield their whole lives. They knew it far better than I.

But if I could get through a portal to Metamoor... well I had no idea what I might find there, but how was I worse off than here? And they wouldn't have much if any better idea about it than I did.

Don't get me wrong, I had some idea that it _was_ dangerous in Metamoor. But what were the risks compared to Will getting hold of me? Would they kill me _twice_?

There were, I found, just a couple of problems. What does a portal look like and how do you use it?

I'd combed the cave, which wasn't actually all that deep, from end to end without finding anything like another way out. The closest I'd found had been various carvings into the stone walls but most were simply pairs of names - invariably a boy's name and a girl's name together. A couple were more esoteric - there was one set of symbolised flames that had me excited for a few minutes - but nothing I could do to them produced any reaction.

"We closed the portal," a soft voice told me.

I swear, I must have jumped a clear foot off the ground. I'd thought I was alone!

For a second I thought that it was Will, but no. Too tall, too... mature. Will and I were barely out of the stage where we could be called _little_ girls, but this girl hovered on the brink of womanhood with a cool confidence in her eyes. I think I envied her that the most.

Her clothes looked like they belonged in a disco or a party: a tight, belly-baring purple top with flowing sleeves that widened dramatically from her elbows to her wrists, a short skirt, knee high boots - and between boots and skirt striped tights covered her legs.

"Please," I asked her, almost begging. "Can't you open it? I have to get away!"

She folded her arms under her bust and looked me over. "I'm a Guardian of the Veil. It's my job to stop people from going through portals, not to help them." Then she lowered her face slightly. "Still... I can't say I've never used them when I really had to. Tell me, why should I make an exception for you?"

"Because I want to _live_." The words tore out of me. "I... I'm not a real girl," I confessed. "The others say I'm an astral drop. I was supposed to take someone's place - one of the girls who used this yesterday to go to Metamoor - so that no one noticed she was missing. And I did that! But now... now she wants to destroy me. She doesn't need me anymore."

"I know about astral drops," the Guardian told me. She paused. "They... they're not supposed to be more than reflections of the original."

I hung my head. "I'm... different. Defective, they said. I shouldn't be this way, but I am. I'm not her! I'm not Will and if she forces me back into herself... I'll be gone forever."

Her eyes went wide. "You're afraid?"

Jerkily I nodded my agreement and a moment later I felt her arms around me. It was like the morning before, with Will's Mom.

"You shouldn't have to be afraid. I'm sorry."

There was something in her voice that I didn't understand. "It's not your fault, but please! Let me go through!"

"It's too dangerous," she said regretfully. "For you as much as anyone. But I promise you, you won't be harmed."

"You can't be sure of that!"

"I can." There was total confidence in her voice. "You're right. You are different. It would be wrong of me to take away your life."

I wanted to believe that, to believe in her. But Will had powers I didn't understand, as did her friends. Could this Guardian really protect me from them? I blame these fears for not realising what was odd about her words until a moment later.

"After all," she added, "We're practically sisters."

Light swelled around her, leaving me blinking... and in the embrace of someone closer to my size. _Identical_ in fact.

"Will!?" I choked, terror rising. She had me!

But the dissolution I feared didn't take place. Instead she just rested her forehead against mine. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "This is my fault. I never meant to do this to you."

"I never thought you did. Like Irma said, I'm a mistake."

Will's head moved against mine and I realised she was shaking it. "You're more than that. You're a living person."

"Y-you mean it? You're not going to..."

"_No_!" Her arms tightened around me. "If you had my memories you'd know I'd never do that. But I guess if you did, you wouldn't be you, would you?"

She started to say more but broke off as I started to sob with relief. Through my tears all I could manage to tell her in explanation was a mumbled: "Thank you."

Thank you for not killing me.

Thank you for believing in me.

Thank you for accepting me.

Thank you for being a far better person than I had imagined.


	2. Chapter 2

The door of the apartment opened and I heard the unmistakeable sound of several teenage girls entering.

"So who is it that you want us to meet Will?" asked Irma.

"It's not Elyon, is it?"

"Oh! Oh!" exclaimed Hay Lin. "It must be Miss Rudolph! She came back from Metamoor!"

"Hello! That wouldn't be good news! She's our Math teacher! _Vive la revolution_!"

"Sorry Cornelia, it's not Elyon. And it's not Miss Rudolph either."

"So who is it, Will?"

Well if that wasn't a cue, I didn't know what was. I should probably come out and introduce myself.

Sure.

Any moment now.

"I'll just go get her," Will promised them and opened the door to her - now our - bedroom. "Hey, did you fall asleep?"

Honestly, once she'd gone to school and Mom had left for work, I had - hey, I'd been up all night and no guilt over the fact that so had Will was going to keep me awake. But that _had_ been hours ago. Since lunch I'd been reading some of Will's books. After all the big thing I was missing from my life right know was knowing things. I was so ignorant that even last year's school books were a step up.

Well that was the theory. Actually having read about half of her seventh grade history book I felt dumber than ever but it was better than being bored.

"Come on." She grabbed my wrist and pulled me out into the apartment. "Ta da!"

There was a moment's silence and then...

"_Wiiiiilllll_!" Irma pointed an accusing finger at me. "You sent your astral drop to school! You can't do that!"

"It is kind of cheating," agreed Cornelia.

"Oh who cares about that," her friend told her. "You can't trust them. Mine agreed to a date with _Martin_. How do you know she wouldn't start making moves on... on... on... Uriah!"

There was a collective "Eww," from all five of the rest of us.

"Wait, you have to date _Martin_?" Cornelia brushed a long of blonde hair behind one ear. "Does anyone have a camera I can borrow? This is the sort of memory you'll want to treasure forever..."

"Try it and die, Cornie," Irma groused.

Will's hands formed fists at her sides, but I don't think she was seriously upset. "Guys, I'm the real Will."

Taranee giggled. "You would have done that if you'd thought of it, wouldn't you?"

"Maybe, but that's not the point."

"Then what is the point?"

"The point is that I goofed when I created her. She's not like the others..." A disturbed look crossed Will's face. "You aren't right? I mean... the other astral drops weren't afraid of us, were they?"

"I don't think so."

"Okay, that's good." She - my _sister_ - paused. "Where was I?"

"You goofed." Cornelia raised an eyebrow. "Could you narrow that down for us a bit?"

"ikindofcreatedapersonandifia bsorbheritdbelikekillingher."

The other four girls looked at each other. "What?" "Huh?" "Will?" "oooohhhh!" Hay Lin seemed to be the only one who got it.

"I'm not a copy of Will," I translated. "I'm my own person."

"But... you're not a real person," protested Irma, cementing her status as my least favourite of them.

Will shook her head. "You're wrong, Irma. She _is_ real. I know she is. And that means I can't reabsorb her. I'd be killing her."

Taranee and Irma gave her an 'are you nuts' look, but Cornelia nodded her head thoughtfully. "That makes sense. She got a B on yesterday's Math test. You'd never do that, Will, so her being a different person makes sense."

"I got a B?" She had to be kidding. "Really?"

Will rolled her eyes. "It figures you'd do better guessing answers at random than I would really trying."

I'd have responded to that but I was a bit distracted by Hay Lin's face. Given that it was about three inches from mine. "You must be the Will I saw last night outside the Silver Dragon," she deduced. "Nice to meet you properly... Oh! What's your name?"

"My... name?"

"Yeah, you're not Will, so who are you?"

I blinked. Huh. I honestly hadn't considered that. "I'm... still trying to figure that out."

Taranee pulled at Will's sleeve nervously. "Uhm, what are you going to tell your Mom, Will? I think she might notice if there are two of you."

"Only if she sees us both together!" Will explained. "She's at work a lot and we're working on a way into the loft - that way one of us can hide up there when she's at home. Or I'll be off with you on Guardian business and she can cover for me."

"Or I might go out in the evenings."

"But no sneaking out to discos," warned Cornelia.

Except for Irma the girls giggled, she just went red. "One time, just one time."

"Uh, I think I'm missing a story...?" I said.

"Irma used her transformation to sneak into that disco in town," Cornelia explained smugly. "She managed to get the attention she wanted from a boy but then she panicked and turned him into a toad."

"We turned him back!" Irma protested.

"After, like, a week!" clarified Hay Lin.

Will cleared her throat. "That reminds me. I don't think we should create astral drops again."

"What! But that means if we have to go away, you're the only one that doesn't get in trouble when we get back!"

"That does seem unfair," agreed Taranee. "Why should our families have to worry about us?"

"I don't want them to worry! But..."

"But what if you wind up with astral drops like me? How many of us can there be before someone catches on? You're creating life!"

Irma made a face. "This sounds a lot like health class."

"Let's not ever talk about this like that again," Will offered with her face paler than usual.

"Agreed!" Taranee almost shouted. "My mom would _freak_!"

"That's not what it's like at all," insisted Cornelia.

"And you totally wouldn't mind having another sister, would you?" Irma asked slyly.

The blonde tossed her hair. "Whose side are you on, anyway?"

"Don't fight," Hay Lin scolded them. She turned back to me and beamed. "I'd kind of like a sister sometimes. Do you think my astral drop would mind if I called her up sometimes just to be a sister?"

...what? "I think you'd be better asking her."

I gave Will an appealing look and she shrugged helplessly. "Look, just be careful, okay? We're responsible for anything they do - and I don't just mean in the 'Mom's going to blame me for anything she does' way."

"I'm right here you know."

"And I was standing right there when she started teasing me about Matt," Will reminded me with her cheeks burning. So were mine.

Irma cackled, apparently forgetting her romantic troubles. "Oooh. You _both_ like him. So who gets him, or will you share?"

"Irma!"

W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.

"Oh no!"

I heard that worried squeal from below and rolled over on my improvised bed (in lieu of an actual mattress we'd managed to smuggle half a dozen old cushions up into the loft) to lift the little hatch set into the floor of my room. "What's the matter?" I asked poking my head down into Will's room below (hopefully it wouldn't occur to Mom to wonder at that hatch appearing after more than a week in the apartment - Cornelia's power over wood and stone was enviable now that she had had some practice).

"It's my dormouse," Will explained, looking up from the usually lively pet. "I think he's sick!"

"Do you want me to get the mop?" I offered, reaching for the knotted rope that I used to get up and down.

She lifted him up in both hands. "Not that sort of sick. Ill! He got into our jar of cookies."

"Are you sure he's not just sleepy?"

"I offered him the last one and he refused!"

"That sounds pretty conclusive," I agreed and scrambled down the rope. "So what do we do?"

Will gave me a panicked look. "I don't know! Mom's not home, who can..."

"Matt," we concluded in unison.

I picked up the dormouse out of Will's arms. "You're not dressed for going out," I told her. (Which was true, she was schlepping around a baggy sweatshirt and slippers, not exactly suitable for the cold, windy streets). "I'll call his house while you get dressed."

"Why do you get to call him?"

I rolled my eyes. "Because you get to go _see_ him? I've no idea where he lives and if this is serious we can't risk me getting lost on the way there."

"Okay?" She gave her pet (one thing we did _not_ share was a fondness for the voracious little critter - I guess I'm not an animal person) a scratch behind the ears before turning to what was now our wardrobe.

I on the other hand went to the telephone and leafed through the piles of contact details under it until I found Matt's number. "Someone really ought to organise these," I muttered quietly, realising that that 'someone' was probably going to be me.

I don't think Will was intentionally loading me down with her chores but it was just more practical for me to be the one doing them: I hadn't gone to school again so far, so I had much more time on my hands for things in the house. Besides, these were all things that I really ought to know how to do.

"Hi," I greeted the woman who picked up the phone. "Is Matt home?"

"Not at the moment," she replied. "Who's calling?"

"I'm..." I recalled that Matt's parents hadn't been too impressed at the dormouse's antics when Will dumped the pet on him before the mission to rescue Taranee. "...a friend of his from school. My pet's ill and I wanted to ask his advice. Do you know when he'll be back?"

"Not for a while I'm afraid," she told me. "But if it's an animal problem, he's working in my father-in-law's pet shop. It's Olsen's - on Almond Street - do you know where that is?"

"I'm not sure." I picked up the pen and paper that we kept handy for this sort of thing. "Could you give me directions?" She did and I scribbled away industriously. "Thank you very much."

"Thank _you_," Will said when I put the phone down. She was dressed warmly now and holding a towel which she used to wrap her pet up against the cold weather. "I'm going to dash, just in case it's something serious."

"Yeah, probably best," I agreed. "I guess you get to put off showing me more Maths."

"I don't see why you're so eager," Will told me, heading for the door. "It was just luck you got a good grade. There's no reason to think you're actually good at it."

"Well it's worth a try. You have the magic, maybe I get maths as compensation."

She laughed as she went out the door.

I watched her cycle away from the window and then went to the closet to get one of her spare jackets and another set of keys. After a few days cooped up here I really could do with getting out. As long as I stayed away from Almond Street, it should be safe enough. Just to be even safer though, I added a ball-cap from her closet and scraped my hair back into a short pony-tail. It was barely long enough to stay back but with a bit of luck I wouldn't be recognised if anyone who only knew Will casually happened to cross my path.

As I walked out of the yard my mind went back to Hay Lin's question a few days ago. Well, to one of the bubbly girl's questions.

What was my name?

Part of it I knew. Will had chosen to declare me her sister and perhaps one day Mom might know who I was and accept me too. So I was one of the Vandom family, even if only one of them knew it. I still felt warm at that fact.

But my own name, that was something I hadn't decided. I didn't even have an idea yet that I liked.

(Irma had suggested 'Bill'. If I wasn't sure that she'd enjoy the experience, I'd have drowned her in the bathtub for that.)

I looked at shop signs as I passed them, looking for inspiration. Not that I was going to call myself 'Pharmacist' or 'Ye Olde Bookstore' but...

Ooooh. Bookstore.

Will, I would have to admit, was not the most literary of girls. While she had a few books other than school texts, most of them had were obviously from when she was (a lot) younger and I'd read through all of them already, when school books got too dull.

Yeah, I'd had quite a bit of time on my hands over the last few days and school books are evidently written to be as boring as possible.

Anyway, perhaps I could get a better book here. I had a little money - Will had split her allowance with me in case I needed some money for an emergency - and it couldn't hurt to look even if I didn't buy anything.

There was a little bell thing that rang as I pushed the door open. The show was shadowy inside and it took a moment for me to realise that the leather-covered volumes on the shelves were actually books! They looked nothing like the bright and colourful children's books and cheap cardboard-covered school books I'd seen so far.

For a moment I thought that I was alone in the shop but then I heard the sound of footsteps and a man stepped out from behind one of the bookshelves. He was tall and thin with blond hair slicked back into a pony-tail. "Can I help you, Miss...?"

"Uh, I'm just... seeing if something catches my eye?"

"Of course." He bowed slightly. "If you need help, just call."

I nodded and started scanning along the shelves, picking out the titles that were embossed into the spines, sometimes in gilt. It took me all of a minute to realise I was way over my head. Some of the titles didn't seem to be in English at all and once I reached the third shelf I realised that some of the letters didn't seem to be from the alphabet.

"What the..."

There was a giggle from behind me and I turned to see a girl around my own age leaning against bookshelf opposite, hands clasped behind her.

For a moment I froze, looking at her. My face must have been quite the picture because she giggled again. It was, to be honest, a pretty nice laugh and I turned around and sat down with my back to the shelf, chuckling at my own plight. "Okay, I confess! I don't have a clue what I'm looking at."

"I think that shelf is Russian... or maybe Greek," she told me, then looked at me somewhat expectantly.

"Sorry, am I supposed to pretend I can speak those?" I asked after a couple of moments.

She grinned. "I think we can skip that bit if you want. There's some stuff in the back that might be a bit easier to get into."

"Sounds good." I scrambled to my feet. "I'm not really looking for anything particular, just something a bit more interesting than everyday life." Standing I found that I was a little taller than her which was an almost new experience for me. She had mousy brown hair about the same length as mine except for two thin braids that hung down in front of her shoulders.

"I know how that feels," she assured me and waved her hand towards the back of the store. "Over this way."

"Thank you."

I'll be honest, the books in this part of the store didn't look all that different. In fact, some of the scripts seemed even stranger... "I'm not sure that this exactly what I'm looking for."

"I guess they really didn't tell you anything," the girl said sweetly.

I looked back and saw her clothes change to a long green dress with a blue tabard over it. A silver circlet appeared in her hair and two silver ornamental rings capped her braids.

Ohhhh dear. This could be bad. Still... maybe she was friendly. "You would appear to have the advantage of me."

"Looks like I do," she nodded. "I'm surprised the Guardians are letting a loose end like you run around."

"I appealed to their better nature." Did this place have a back door. A window? Well, another window - the one that I could see was a mosaic of coloured glass in the shape of a peacock and I rather doubted I'd be able to get out of it.

"So that's how you convinced them to put up with you, faker." She put her hands on her hips. "Well don't think I miss what you are. I've been watching you for a while. And I have the power to stop you."

"Stop me? I don't know what you mean. I don't even know who you are!" I darted away from her, trying to get away from her by going around the other end of the bookcase. I had almost reached the corner when the bookstore owner stepped into my path. Except he was also changing shape, changing into something that wasn't even human.

I recoiled, almost losing my balance.

"You're not going anywhere," the girl told me and thrust her hands forwards. A bubble of force formed around me, suspending me in mid-air. "You've done enough already, pretending to be friends with Cornelia and flashing your belly at Matt."

What? I flushed. How could she know that!? And why would it even matter to her? Unless...

Cornelia. Matt.

She'd told me that her friend Elyon had a crush on him. And later that she'd vanished, perhaps into Metamoor.

"Elyon?"

She curtseyed. "Elyon Brown," she confirmed. "Except that's not who I really am."

"Indeed," the towering snake man agreed, slithering around her. "You're far more than that, Elyon."

I crossed my arms. She had magic, evidently, and I didn't. I wasn't going to be able to fight her like that, so I'd have to find another way.

"So if you're not really Elyon Brown, does that make you a fake too?"

Her eyes narrowed angrily. "No, it makes my so-called parents fakes. After my _real_ parents died, they stole me away from my brother and took me away from Meridian to Heatherfield. They pretended to be my family, the same way that you're pretending to be Will's sister."

"_You shut your mouth!_"

My hand hurt and I realised I'd slapped it against the bubble as hard as I could. As if it had been her face.

"I may not know your family, Elyon. But I _do_ know mine. And don't you _ever_ dare suggest that I don't love them."

Elyon walked forwards and looked me right in the eye. "And what are you going to do about it? You're nothing but an illusion and soon you won't even be that!"

"Now let's not be hasty," her companion suggested. "Remember the plan, Elyon. Our guest could be very useful to us, as long as she considers the consequences if she proves... uncooperative."

Elyon lowered her head submissively. "Of course, Cedric. You can trust me."

I have no idea how she took any reassurance from his toothy grin but once he had slipped away behind the bookcases, she took a deep breath and then eyed me up again. "You don't have any future in Heatherfield. All you are is a construct of magic. Once we defeat the Guardians you'd simply fade away. But Cedric and my brother want to give you a chance. We can give you a real body, and a new life in Meridian."

"That sounds like a sweet deal," I agreed warily. Something told me that it wouldn't be a simple as that. They would want something from me and they'd take measures to keep me to whatever they asked for. And what if they decided not to keep their word? I didn't like the look of Cedric - maybe I'm a little suspicious by nature - and Elyon hadn't been exactly trustworthy, luring me into this.

"And if you don't agree I'll simply make this bubble smaller and smaller until your body is destroyed. My magic is stronger than any of the Guardians. Stronger than all of them combined!"

"I don't think I'd enjoy that." I had to get out of the bubble. It already felt as if it might be getting smaller. I eyed its margins and I think it really was. That suggested that just by thinking about it Elyon was making it happen. "So what do you get out of this? We both know that I'll do what I have to in order to survive."

Elyon smiled. "The Guardians need the Heart of Kandrakar to fully master their powers. Without it, they can't keep closing the portals and trapping my people in Metamoor. I think they'd be a lot more reasonable - maybe we could even be friends again - if you were to bring the Heart here."

The thought of the bubble shrinking had been enough for that to start happening and I didn't think Elyon had actually intended to do that. I hoped not, because the ideas beginning to form in my mind rather counted upon my being right.

I needed to keep her talking while I put it together. "And what if I were to agree, and then go tell the Guardians about this shop? I imagine you'd know, and wouldn't get caught but there's got be a portal around here. Not to talk myself out of this deal, but I imagine you want some kind of safeguard?"

Magic seemed highly dependent upon intent and perhaps upon focus. If I could break hers, then perhaps it would break the spell.

Elyon gestured and the oily surface of the bubble faded away athough I could still feel it against my hand. "No one needs to know that this is around you, but I won't be taking it away until we have the Heart."

"What stops you from clenching it down on me if I chat with Matt?" I asked innocently.

She scowled at me. "Maybe you'd better not."

"But surely you're over him, now that Cedric is in your life. Why should I mess up Will's chances with him?"

There was colour in her cheeks. "You don't understand!"

"A lot of things, no. I think you're being a real fool about your parents. But your brother?" I changed by tone of voice. "That, I do understand."

"W-what?"

"You chose him over everything. Your friends, even the world you knew?"

Elyon nodded. "Yes."

"Then you know why I won't betray my sister."

"But you aren't really her sister! You said you'd do _anything_ to survive."

I could see doubt and confusion in her eyes and I seized upon it. "If I took your deal then I wouldn't survive. Something might be left wouldn't be me. Because I'd never betray Will. That's who I am."

My ears popped as the bubble closed around me. Under that crushing power I was forced into a crouch and then into a fetal postion. Somehow I twisted to keep my eyes on Elyon. Her hand was steady... but her lower lip was trembling.

The pressure forced a gasp of pain with the last air in my lungs, but I kept looking at her.

Looking her in eyes.

Making her watch me die.

Magic was will.

And I had to shake hers.

The last thing I thought before red overtook my vision was that there was a pun in there somewhere.

W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.

When I woke up I was somewhere I had never been before.

Okay, that doesn't narrow it down very much, does it? It wasn't Heatherfield though. If anything, it looked like a picture from one of Will's history books, depicting the Middle Ages. I was sitting on a bench at the edge of a market square. Above the square reared up a magnificent cathedral.

"Is this... Metamoor?"

There was a giggle. One I'd heard before.

"No," Elyon told me. "This is Dahl's Eternal Summer."

"What?" I scrambled to my feet, looking for a way to escape. I couldn't feel the bubble.

The other girl declined to meet my eyes. "I decided not to kill you. You'll do just as well as bait for the Guardians. They'll be joining you here, soon." She offered me a cup of something frothy. "This will help you feel better."

I accepted the mug. It wasn't as if she couldn't have poured it into me while I was unconcious if she wanted to. "I don't understand. Who is Dahl?"

"He was a painter. I've brought you into his last picture."

"You can _do_ that?"

She curtseyed. "I told you. I have more power than the Guardians. You won't be seperated from your sister for very much longer."

"No offense, but I'd prefer it if she drove you off with your tail between your legs."

Elyon looked surprised and then shook her head. "It's too bad you're on the wrong side."

"Funny, I could say the same for you." I drank from the cup and found the contents spicy and reviving. When I looked up at Elyon she was giving me an impish look. "Alright, what am I drinking?"

"Mead," she told me. "It's a little bit alcoholic. And it's replacing some of the magic that you're made of. Everything you eat will do that from now on. Eventually you'll have a perfectly normal human body."

The mug hit the ground. "Really?"

She nodded. "It was more difficult than I thought, but one day you'll be a real girl, Pinocchiolina."

"Pinocchiolina?" I rolled the name around my lips as I retrieved the cup from the ground. When I looked up, Elyon was gone. I was alone and out of place in this little celebration. Setting the empty cup down on the bench I slipped away into the gap between two buildings and hid myself behind a barrel.

Curling up on myself I wondered how today could get any worse. I'd blundered right into Will's enemies, almost been killed and now I was being used as bait to lure her into a trap. "If I get out of this I'm never leaving the apartment again without letting someone know where I'm going," I vowed. "Please be alright, Will. If you get hurt then I'll never forgive her."

My cheeks felt wet and I realised I was crying. How foolish I was to be saying I wouldn't forgive Elyon when she didn't need to to worry about me at all. She had her magic and she had me trapped. And a part of me didn't want to hate her even with this. She _had_ spared me - more, if she was to be believed then she had given me a chance at a real life, of one day being more than just a magical shell that thought for herself.

Could I really hate her when she was giving me life almost as much as Will had?

I think that I could. Not for what she had done to me and for me. Those, at least I could call us square over. But if she followed through and sent Will and the others here... I wouldn't be alone, but all of them would lose their families. Mom would be alone, never knowing what had happened to Will.

That I thought I could hate her for, if it happened.

I don't know how long I sat there, trying to get hold of my feelings, but eventually I had cried myself out. With a sigh I took off my cap, tidied up my hair again, and scrubbed away the tear-stains with a hankie before I put the hat back on.

Maybe the Guardians wouldn't be captured at all. Perhaps they'd even rescue me without any trouble.

But if they were captured then I owed it to them to do everything I could to help. Right now that meant finding out everything I could about this place, this prison. Elyon had left so there must be some way out. I might not have the magic to use it, but if Will was here she'd have the Heart of Kandrakar, so that shouldn't be a problem.

So where was I? I poked my head out above the barrel and looked out at the market square. It didn't look so terrible - in fact there was festival atmophere. Men in fancy clothes that looked nothing like anything I'd seen in Heatherfield were carrying tall banners through the crowds of more plainly but still oddly dressed people moving baskets of food and barrels that I presumed to contain drinks. In some parts of the square partying seemed to have broken out already - a couple were dancing (not the sort of dancing I'd seen Will do to music on the television but dancing nonetheless) and a juggler was keeping five apples in the air at once, which was pretty cool I had to admit. The fat merchant watching certainly seemed to agree with me.

"What are you doing there? Up to mischief?" a gruff voice demanded.

I eeped and spun around to see a plump man with a stained apron giving me an amused look. "Mischief? Me? Uh-uh!"

He gave me a searching look. "Hmm. You're not from around here. Eying the food I'll bet."

"ehh..." I rubbed the back of my head nervously. Better to let him think he was right.

"Well there'll be plenty of food for everyone later, as long as they earn their keep." He folded his thick arms across the apron. "And since my usual assistant is off juggling I could do with another pair of hands."

I bit my lip. I really ought to to find out more about this place... but where would I even start? At least if I was doing something for this man I'd not have to come up with an explanation for who was or why I was here. I nodded my acquiesence. "What do you want me to do?"

As it turned out, the man was an innkeeper and what he wanted me to do was wait tables. Before you start thinking that it was easy, you have to remember that I'm not very large and I had to carry food and drinks around on heavy wooden platters. There weren't any lightweight metal and plastic trays so I struggled quite a bit.

"I don't think you'd better try to lift this one," the innkeeper told me, balancing six heavy tankards onto one such platter. It wasn't quite large enough for them so one tankard was stacked on top of three others. He jerked his head towards a rack of bottles. "Take one of those over to Master Van Dahl. And be polite. He's an important man!"

I pulled one of the bottles off the rack and held it up for inspection. "Uh, who's Master Van Dahl?" Hadn't Elyon mentioned someone called Dahl?

The innkeeper nodded towards a corner of the room, near the window. I could just about see a man at the table there, wrapped in a long cloak.

Even the bottle was surprisingly heavy, so I held it in both hands as I walked over to him. "Master Van Dahl?" I extended the bottle.

"Ah, thank you." He accepted it with one hand and set it on the table without looking up. "Please bring me..." He looked up and I saw a thin, sad face beneath shaggy brown hair. "I don't know you."

"Um... should you?"

"I know everyone here," he said confidently. "What did someone your age do that Phobos would punish you? Stare at him? Take one step too close to him?"

"Ah... I'm not sure who Phobos is. I got sent here by a girl called Elyon."

Van Dahl rose to his feet and bowed slightly. "I'm forgetting my manners. It has been far too long since I spoke to another living soul. Elias Van Dahl at your service."

"I'm..." I hesitated. "Uhm... Miss Vandom."

He gave me a sceptical look.

"I don't actually have a name," I explained. "It's a long story."

"Young lady, I have nothing but time. I don't even know how long it has been since Cedric trapped me here."

"Cedric? I thought that you said Phobos...?"

Van Dahl sighed. "Cedric is Phobos' right-hand man. Like yours, it is a long story." He gestured to the chair facing him. "Please, take a seat and we can exchange our tales."

I complied. If the innkeeper protested, well he had told me to be polite. And besides, it seemed I'd stumbled on the one person that could tell me all about this place. "Cedric, I've run into. Assuming we mean tall, blond and turns into a snake. He and Elyon are working together."

"I see. Tell me, have you ever heard of Meridian?"

"Elyon said something about it, that it was their home. I'm guessing that it's something to do with Metamoor?"

"Yes," he agreed. "Metamoor is another world from the Earth and Meridian is the great city that covers it. Long ago, or so my teachers claim, Metamoor was one of the brightest of all the worlds but by my time it had become a world of darkness, lit only by the Light of Meridian. To protect other worlds, a veil was drawn between the worlds, cutting Metamoor off from the rest of the universe. And then... the Light failed."

"I was a court painter, the most famous artist of all of Meridian, when it happened. The queen and her consort vanished mysteriously. Her daughter, the heir, was no more than a child and so the crown passed to her brother: Phobos. Life had never been easy in Metamoor, but under his rule it became unbearable. His sister also vanished mysteriously, and Phobos withdrew into the shadows. He didn't want to talk to anyone, showing himself only to his loyal whisperers. Orders went out to destroy every statue, every portrait, any image of him in all of Meridian."

"You'd painted him, I take it?"

He nodded. "I had; and as a skilled portraitist I could easily paint more. I decided to run away away from him. There were people I knew, people who were afraid of what Phobos would do. They helped me to escape from Metamoor to another world, a place and time where an artist would be respected."

I blinked. "I take it that you don't mean here."

Van Dahl smiled sadly. "No. You'd know it as Europe. By your calendar, the year was 1700."

"Um... Master Van Dahl..."

"I've been here a long time, haven't I?" he said resignedly.

"Three hundred years," I confessed. "I'm sorry."

He sank in on himself. "I knew it was possible, but... I'm sorry, I need a moment."

I needed a little time myself. Three hundred years? This had been going on that long? But Will said that she had been chosen as a Guardian just in the last few weeks. Of course, they had been picked by Hay Lin's grandmother, who died only a little later so there had been no chance for anyone to ask questions about the history of the Guardians. But surely someone would know, if I could only find them.

Someone cleared their throat and I looked up to see the innkeeper. "Is everything alright, Master Van Dahl?"

"Merely sober thoughts," Van Dahl assured him. "I gather my young companion has been assisting you? I'm afraid you'll have to get along without her for a while." He pulled himself to his feet, towering over me, and dropped a handful of oddly cut silver coins onto the table. "Come along, Miss Vandom. We should talk more privately."

The innkeeper wasn't as tall as Van Dahl, but he was probably twice as broad. Nonetheless I saw his face pale as he stepped aside.

"That man was afraid of you," I accused Van Dahl in a low voice as I followed him out. Yes, I followed him. Quite honestly, he was too important for me back away from just because he seemed a little sinister all of a sudden.

He hunched his shoulders. "I imagine some of them do, yes," he agreed. "This is my painting, I created it and I created them as well. I don't usually throw my weight around, but they aren't exactly inclined to argue with me."

"You created this?" I gestured around us. "All of this?"

"Well, that wasn't my intention."

"This sounds horribly familiar." He'd created them? The way Will had created me?

Van Dahl's eyebrows arched. "I look forward to hearing your story. But I'm skipping ahead of mine. I'd fled Metamoor and made a new life for myself. I could paint, dream, wish... and like others, I could love. But I had not truly escaped. Phobos send Cedric after me to make sure I was punished. He found me and - whether it was Phobos' instructions or his own inspiration, he bound me to my latest work."

"The painting was supposed to be named 'The Last Tear'. A village where no one has cried in a long time. The last tear is in a crystal bottle in the cathedral and the life of the village is just joy. An eternal summer... Cedric told me that he'd always heard that artists put themselves into their work. He created a portal into it and forced me through it."

"Then this place has been for hundreds of years?" I asked. "Don't the people here notice?"

He shook his head. "It's like a play. They're caught in a few moments and no matter what I do, they revert to those actions unless I'm right there with them and sometimes even then. I've lost count of how often it happens."

I followed him up a narrow stair into a loft overlooking the square. "And they don't remember anything?" The room's furniture was barren except for dozens of incomplete paintings.

"Oh, they do but it doesn't really matter to them. As far as they're concerned this is normal. They don't know what it's like to be hungry, or thirsty or tired. I've almost forgotten them myself, this place just isn't real enough for them to matter."

"But you were drinking whatever it was in that bottle."

"The wine wasn't for sustenance," he told me wryly. "I guess you're not old enough to understand. Lucky girl."

"You don't look three hundred years old. I may not get any older." I looked around at the pictures. "I see you've been keeping busy."

Van Dahl sighed. "I tried to at first, but I can't finish any of them. Without colours, it's useless even to try."

"Without colours...?"

"It's all an illusion. When I try..." He gestured impatiently. "See for yourself. Letting me take my paint and canvases was Cedric's idea of a cruel joke. He took away my ability to paint and then left it dangling in front of me all this time."

Looking closer I saw that the pictures were washed out and felt... hollow, incomplete. The colours were scarcely more than hinted at. "That's cruel."

"There is no end to Phobos' cruelty," he said. "So what is your story?"

I found myself a seat against the window sill, looking down over the market. "Have you ever heard of the Guardians of the Veil?"

W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.

It might be that I couldn't grow tired here, but I guess it must take a while to kick in because explaining my history really took it out of me.

Van Dahl gallantly offered me the use of his bed. I'm not sure he'd used it in decades so I didn't complain about the rather lumpy mattress. Mind you, I also didn't actually get under the covers or undress. That'd be just a bit icky under the circumstances.

It seemed I'd barely put my head on the pillow when my shoulder was shaken.

"Whu?"

"There's a disturbance outside," Van Dahl told me sharply. "That hasn't happened before, so I think someone else has come through the portal."

I sat up and reached for my sneakers. "Who?"

"Well that's the question, isn't it?" He slung his cloak around his shoulders, making it flare dramatically.

I was glad that my sneakers were velcro-fasten becase I really wasn't inclined to take the time to tie laces before scrambling down the stairs.

"What's going on?" Van Dahl demanded of the first person to cross his path.

The woman squeaked in surprise. "Oh! Master Van Dahl! It's witches! Five witches!"

I slapped my face.

"I see. And where are these 'witches' now?"

"They ran away!" She pointed in the direction of some houses across the square. "Captain Von Schliese is after them!"

Shading my eyes against the late afternoon sun, I saw girls scrambling on the rooftops. The colour of their clothes was distinctive and by squinting I thought I could see a head of unruly red hair. "That's my sister."

"The good captain is somewhat short-tempered, we'd better hurry before he does something rash." Van Dahl started running across the square, leaving me to trail in his wake. His longer legs widened that gap quite a bit and after a moment I also had to deal with another problem: people might get out of Master Van Dahl's way, but they weren't so considerate for a young girl.

The Guardians vanished from sight behind a roof as I ran. It seemed strange: I knew they had powers over the elements, so if they were threatened, why weren't they using those powers to protect themselves? I doubted that a handful of town guards could really threaten them...

Something was wrong, badly wrong.

Besides, the more obvious problem that I'd been used as bait to lure them into a trap.

"You hear him, monkey!" I heard Irma shout. "Get your sweaty hands off me or I'll bite!"

"Can I lock her away at least?" the mustachioed soldier holding her protested as I came into view of them. "She's hardly sweet." The Guardians were surrounded by the soldiers, Irma and Cornelia physically restrained. Judging by the fact that Hay Lin was on the ground - the girl loved to fly - I was going to go with the theory that she couldn't.

Also, all five of them were unfairly gorgeous.

I kind of knew that about Will already, but the rest of them?

About the only consolation was that I had a theory that this was what they'd look like in a few years, so there was a good chance I'd look like Will did now by then. If so then I had a _lot_ to look forwards to.

(And if their parents ever saw the Guardian's uniforms then they'd be grounded until they were that old for real. I'm not surprised they started a riot.)

"Captain, these girls are my guests and I am sure that this is nothing more than a simple misunderstanding."

"But -!"

I pushed past the guards, who were't expecting someone to do that, breaking my pace slightly to kick the guard restraining Cornelia in the ankle. "Will!"

She caught me in a hug. "Are you alright? Did Elyon hurt you?"

"I'm okay." I decided it wasn't the moment to let her know about the almost-crushed-to-death bit.

When we parted the guards had relaxed (except for the guard I'd kicked, but at least he wasn't holding Cornelia any more).

"As you can see, they were simply concerned for their companion," Van Dahl explained. "You can tell his lordship that I will take responsibility for them."

Captain von Schliese nodded sharply. "Very well, Master Van Dahl. But please keep them out of trouble."

Irma glared at their backs and then nudged Van Dahl under the ribs. "Wow, you must be important to be ordering them around."

"I have a certain influence," he conceded. "Miss Vandom tells me that you are the Guardians."

"I'm not sure how much help that will be," Taranee admitted. "We can't seem to use our powers."

Van Dahl nodded. "I can't say that I'm surprised, although I hoped otherwise. If the legends are true then your powers are over the elements, but we are trapped in an illusion: there's nothing real here for them to work upon."

"Elyon was able to leave, so there has to be a way that we can."

"I've looked, believe me."

Cornelia ignored Van Dahl's depressed face. "How did Elyon get hold of you anyway?"

"Believe it or not, I ran into her in a book store," I explained with a shrug. "I didn't know who she was until it was too late."

"Did she... say anything?"

"Yes, she did." I looked at Van Dahl, who was retelling his story to the other Guardians. "I guess we're not in any hurry."

"What happened?" It was odd just how... solid... the willowy blonde could appear at times. Well-rooted, down-to-earth... she was well suited to her powers.

"She lured me in, trapped me and offered a deal she - or at least Cedric - thought I couldn't refuse."

I got an aristocratically arched eyebrow.

"She wanted me to steal the Heart of Kandrakar for her. If I agreed, she'd arrange for me to have a new life in Metamoor. If I didn't... well she thought I was some sort of fake person, preying on your better natures. She thought that you would be well rid of me."

"Elyon would never do that!" protested Cornelia. "She's shy and gentle, she'd never kill someone!"

"But she would destroy a rogue astral drop."

Cornelia's eyes flicked away with me.

I reached over and took her hands. "Thank you."

"What for?"

"You said some_one_, not some_thing_. I think that that's why Elyon didn't go through with it when I turned her down. She could have killed something that threatened you, but not someone protecting their sister. I hope that that's true."

Cornelia met my eyes again, shifting her hands so that one covered mine. "No one doubts you're Will's sister. Although we really need to choose a name for you."

"Speaking of names, do you know why she'd call me 'Pinocchiolina'?"

Cornelia laughed. "Pinocchio is from a Disney movie: it's about a puppet that came to life and wanted to be a real boy."

"And Pinocchiolina?"

"I suppose she invented a female version to name you. Will that be your name now?"

I considered and then shook my head. "No, it seems a little too fancy for little old me."

"And your nose isn't big enough."

I put my hands on my hips. "There's nothing wrong with my nose."

"Pinocchio's nose grew every time he told a lie." She gestured to indicate a nose at least as long as her arm. "I guess you must be telling the truth since yours still looks like Will's."

I stuck out my tongue.

"Or maybe it's your tongue that gets longer," Cornelia corrected herself and we both giggled. "I don't understand why Elyon would run off like this though."

"She told me that she was from Metamoor her whole time. Her real parents died when she was very young and the people she thought were her parents fled here with her." I shrugged. "It sounds a lot like Master Van Dahl's story, to be honest, except that she claims that they kidnapped her from her brother."

"So who is her brother? That snake guy Cedric?"

I frowned. "I don't think so. I'm pretty sure she said something about Cedric _and_ her brother. Plus she seemed to have some sort of crush on Cedric which would be pretty weird if he _is_ her brother. How did she manage to capture you?"

Cornelia shook her head, flipping her long blonde hair from side to side. "It was Cedric. Irma saw some sort of lizard in the museum and we thought it might be connected to you disappearing - no offense, but Will said it might be the sort of borning place you'd like..."

"What's a museum?"

"You'll see when we get out of here. I spotted you in the picture and when we were all clustered around it... bam! He opened a portal and it sucked us through."

"Elyon said they were going to use me as bait when she left me here," I agreed. "I suppose it worked."

"So what do we do now?" Taranee asked from where the others were. "We don't have our powers... we can't even change back to our normal selves. Does anyone have any ideas for getting out of here?"

"You said that this is a world that never changes." Will looked over at Van Dahl. "Like living in a moment that doesn't move. Maybe that's the trap: as long as the picture doesn't change, we can't change the fact that we're in it. But if we were to change the situation..."

"Well how do we do that?" asked Irma.

"Well it's a painting." I looked over at Van Dahl. "You're the painter: how do you change a painting?"

"You paint over it." He looked hopefully for a moment but then shook his head. "But I don't have any paints, remember?"

"What do you need to make paints? Assume I don't know anything."

"She usually doesn't," added Irma.

Someone - I shall not name names - slapped their hand over Irma's mouth to shut her up.

"It depends what colours you want," Van Dahl explained. "It's a little complicated, but I keep the basic pigments as oils. When I need some I pour a little out and mix it with water to get the right consistency before I use it."

"Did you bring your pigments with you or did you mix them here?"

"Cedric threw them to me," he explained. "Do you think that he did something to them?"

"I'm hoping that he _didn't_."

I got some confused looks from the others.

"When you used the pigments before, where did you get the water from?"

"I... from the well." He paled slightly. "You mean all this time... I was that close?"

I spread my hands. "I don't know what we can use instead but..."

"It's a worth a try," Will agreed. "Good thinking little sister. And I have an idea what to try."

"What?"

"I'll show you." She started to walk away and the rest of us fell in behind her. After a moment Van Dahl moved up alongside her and offered reassurances to the townsfolk we passed, most of whom didn't seem too fond of the Guardians. Way to make a first impression girls.

To Van Dahl's obvious surprise, she led us to the doors of the Cathedral. "What do you have in mind."

"You said that this picture was supposed to be named for the Last Tear, which is inside the Cathedral. What if you tried mixing your paints with that?"

He raked his hand through his hair. "I don't know. But it can't hurt to try. I've never even been inside here."

"Really?" Taranee asked in surprise. "I would have thought... well, this era was very religious."

"I know. But I'm from Metamoor," he reminded her. "Christianity doesn't really mean very much to me, one way or the other."

Irma tried the door. "It's _locked_!"

We exchanged glances. Maybe it was nothing, but it certainly felt as if someone didn't want us to go in. And that might mean that we were onto something.

"If I had my powers I could open this in an instant," Cornelia proclaimed.

Irma was more constructive. "Is there another way in?"

"If there is then it's probably locked too." I exchanged looks with Will. "Do you think we could break the lock?"

Van Dahl stepped away slightly and called out to two men setting up a trestle table. "Hey, you there! Come to help us a little." He threw his cloak aside as the pair approached us. "Where's there's life there's hope, right?"

"Exactly, Elias. Maybe nothing will happen if we try..."

"...but we can be sure it won't if we don't!" I finished.

With three sturdy shoulders against it, the door was soon shaking, but it was a while before one of the hinges gave way. Without that to brace it, the rest of the door began to twist and eventually one of the boards cracked with a sharp retort and the men were able to kick the rest of it down.

A solemn air came over us as we went through the door. The success at opening it had left me giggling with triumph (however small) but the inside of the cathedral took my breath away.

"This is amazing," Irma whispered reverently. The interior was tall and airy, lit by rainbow streamers of light through the stained-glass windows at the far end. The columns supporting the vast, many arched roof were decorated with lavish frescoes picked out in gold that glittered in the light.

For once there was no arguement from Cornelia over Irma's statement: "Beautiful," she agreed.

"I wish I could paint this," Van Dahl sighed. "I had no idea it was like this."

"Well maybe you can." Will led us to a large stone table (she later used the word altar) and pointed out a small glass bottle lying on a pink bottle. "This has to be the Last Tear. Take it with you and mix the colours with it."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Van Dahl!"

The voice echoed through the cathedral and the seven of us looked around for the source. There didn't appear to be anyone but us there...

Will groaned and for a moment I thought she would collapse, but when I caught her arm she straightened. "A portal!"

Silver mist formed in the middle of the aisle, coiling into a circular pattern.

"Something's coming through!" warned Hay Lin.

She was right. A few seconds later a large, blue-skinned man rode through the portal. Rode, I say, because he was mounted on... I don't have the words. Irma later described it as a riding-rhino and I suppose that's as good a term as any.

"Frost the Hunter!" Will yelped.

"You're doomed!" the rider - Frost, I presume, unless WIll meant the riding-rhino for some reason - proclaimed. "There is no hope of escape!"

"Uh... if there wasn't you really wouldn't be here," I pointed out and then ducked for cover as he drew a sword that looked to be about as long as I was tall.

"She's right! Elias, this proves that we _can_ undo the curse. Otherwise Cedric wouldn't need to send him."

"But..."

Van Dahl had to cut off his protests as the angry Frost spurred his steed forwards. We scattered left and right around the fast but not especially agile creature.

"Go!" Irma shouted to Van Dahl, pushing him towards the door. "Mix your paints! We'll deal with Frost."

"Good joke, Irma," complained Cornelia. "We don't have our powers, remember?"

The brunette shrugged. "So we improvise. Don't be so negative."

"The painter can wait," Frost snarled, bringing his riding-rhino around. Incongrously this placed him directly in the pool of light cast by the sun through the stained glass window. "Last time you ran away..."

"No offense, but we thought we'd try that again!" Hay Lin said cheekily and the five of them turned and dashed for the door. Will caught my arm and all but dragged me, which was a mixed blessing - it certainly helped me keep up with her longer legs but at the cost of slowing her down.

"You're not getting away this time!"

"Get out," Will called out. "Let him follow you!"

"_Let_ him?" Cornelia asked incredulously, looking back and seeing that we were falling behind.

The thunder of the riding-rhino's hooves was barely behind the two of us as the others ran out of the door. Suddenly Will used her grip on my arm to spin me to one side and released her hold sharply. She went one way and I went the other each of us colliding with the wall - in my case with a side order of pain to the shoulder that took the brunt.

Frost's triumphant cry was cut short as he turnd his head to watch Will and missed the fact that the arch of the door was considerably lower than his shoulders while mounted. He rebounded and from that height hitting the stone floor probably hurt almost as much as hitting the arch had.

"Come on!" Will scrambled up and grabbed me - still dazed - yanking me out of the door after the riding-rhino, which had slowed to an amble now that the burly hunter wasn't in the saddle. I'm morally certain Will was grinning manically as she scrambled up into the saddle, dragging me with her.

"Do you know how to ride?" I asked.

"Only horses!" She snared the reins and twitched them lightly. To my complete surprise it worked and the riding rhino started to obediently walk after the other girls.

"Urrr..." Frost staggered out of the catherdral, sword in hand. He caught sight of us and his face turned purple. "You'll pay for this, Guardians!"

"Not until you explain what you're doing here!" came a shout and I saw Captain Von Schliese at the head of a crowd including two of his soldiers and a considerable number of the men from the market. "Riding that thing in our cathedral, chasing after Master Van Dahl's guests... you've got a lot to answer for!"

The towering Metamoorian's jaw dropped. "Are you threatening me? Do you know who I am?"

"No, and I don't care." Von Schliese drew his own sword and the crowd produced various long, heavy tools. "This is _our_ summer festival and you are invited to _leave_!"

Frost raised his sword, apparently not overly concerned by the numbers against him. The confrontation was interrupted however by a gleeful shout from one of the windows overlooking the square: Van Dahl's window. "It works! It works!"

We turned and I saw him leaning out of the window, waving a scrap of canvas. It was too high for me to make out details... but we didn't need to: it was almost dripping with paint. Rich, vibrant colours!

"It works, girls. The tear mixed the colours! I can paint again."

"Phobos's curse is broken!" Will shouted and raised her free hand, the Heart of Kandrakar alight in it. I'd seen it before but this was different. Then it had seemed a simple glass sphere, held in a simple but elegant silver setting. Now it pulsed with a pink light and and she raised it tear drops of magic hurtled away from it towards the other guardians.

"Air!" cried out Hay Lin as silver light engulfed her and she lifted off the ground, long pony-tails flapping in a wind.

Irma's magic was blue and at her call of "Water!" the contents of the nearby well rushed up at her command.

"Earth!" "Fire!"

The ground cracked beneath Cornelia's hand, a fissure forming and extending towards the suddenly paling Hunter, and Taranee grinned broadly as a fireball crackled into existence between her hands.

"This isn't your lucky day," Will proclaimed. "Now get out of here or you'll regret it."

W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.

A few minutes later the summer festival - delayed some three hundred years - was getting started. The seven of us had a table to ourselves: officially because we were the guests of honour, unofficially because the locals still weren't sure what to make of us.

Frost had fled the square back into the cathedral and presumably through the portal, since the search organised by Von Schliese hadn't found him. He'd left his riding-rhino behind and my animal-loving sister had already needed reminding twice that there was no way we could hide a large green rhino in Heatherfield, no matter how tame he was around her.

"Can you feel the wind blowing?" Van Dahl asked from the head of the table, watching bright banners flying around the square and a flurry of flower petals blown across our table. "I'd almost forgotten what it was like..."

"It's great, isn't it!" agreed Hay Lin. "And I didn't have to do anything!"

Even the townsfolk, for whom this was a genuinely new experience, seemed to be enjoying the new weather.

"What will you do now?" Van Dahl asked us.

"We'll - don't even think about it!" Will added, seeing me sneak a hand around a cup of mead.

I gave her an innocent look. "But it's really tasty."

"It's alcoholic! Mom would throw a fit if she thought I was drinking!"

"What's alcohol?"

Irma laughed and leant over to ruffle my hair. "Your sister's a bad bad girl, Will. Flirting with Matt and now wanting to drink alcohol!"

"Get off!"

"It's bad for you." Will turned back to Van Dahl. "We'll return to Earth, but we'll leave the portal open for you."

The painter looked surprised. "But isn't it your job to close portals like this."

"Yes," she admitted. "But this one is the only way you'll ever be able to go home."

"This is my home now," Van Dahl announced, somewhat wistfully. "There is no one waiting for me now, not in Meridian or on Earth. Now that I can paint again it will be a good place. I can't wait to get started doing a painting of the inside of the cathedral."

"But if we close the portal, what if this all becomes nothing but a picture. You could..."

He shook his head to cut Cornelia short. "Then I'll never know, will I? There's nowhere else for me, Guardians. Not on Earth and not on Meridian. I'm asking for a favour: close the portal, so that Phobos and his followers can never trouble me again."

"Alright then."

"Will!" I protested.

"It's alright Miss Vandom," Van Dahl told me. "This is what I want. Please, give me the same freedom that your sister gave you."

"I... okay." I hung my head and thus as caught by surprise as he pressed something into my hands. "What?"

He shrugged, somewhat embarassed. "I did a little sketch earlier. I haven't had time to actually add any paint but I want you to have this."

I unrolled the parchment and saw a simple charcoal drawing... simple, but so perfect I skipped straight to wondering when he'd seen Will sleeping.

Then the clothes he'd drawn sank in and I coloured (according to the usually reliable Hay Lin) all the way to my ears.

"Ooooo!" Hay Lin exclaimed, looking over my shoulder (yes, even she is taller than I am, particularly when she's in Guardian form). "That's _beautiful_."

"Thank you," I mumbled.

He gave me a quick hug around the shoulders. "No. Thank _you_." Then he let go and took a step away. "Goodbye girls."

We chorused awkward farewells of our own and then: "Heart of Kandrakar," Will chanted. "Take us home."

Everything went pink.

When light faded we were in a large dark room I'd never seen before. "Where are we?"

"The museum," Cornelia told me. She turned me around and through the shadows I could see a large picture. Most of the details I couldn't make out in the darkness, but I could see a marketsquare and a cathedral.

"Is that..."

Will took my hand. "That's right. Dahl's Eternal Summer." She raised the Heart towards it and a beam of energy lashed out to the portrait, drawing out grey streamers of magic from the canvas.

I looked down at the drawing in my hand. "Why did he thank _me_? All I did was get captured and you all had to come and rescue me."

Taranee adjusted her glasses. "Maybe because you gave him something he'd been missing for a long time."

"What? Someone to paint?"

The last of the grey streamers dissipated in the light of the Heart and before it dimmed once again, I saw the picture clearly (if someone pink-shaded). In one corner of the square, outside his home, Van Dahl stood in front of his easel, smiling as he worked.

"No," Taranee told me softly. "You gave him hope."


	3. Chapter 3

Perhaps selfishly, my first thought on hearing raised voices from the kitchen was that Will probably wasn't going to be sneaking me leftovers from dinner.

I don't know exactly how much I _need_ to eat - less than Will, in general - but it didn't mean I didn't like to. We didn't have any way to judge whether Elyon was right and that eating would now give me some degree of existence independent of Will's magic, but I didn't see how it could hurt.

My second thought was to take cover - I'd been using Will's desk to have my own stab at her Maths homework (I couldn't believe how much of a struggle she'd been having with it until I tried for myself. Any greater facility with numbers I have is less a matter of natural genius on my part and more that she kind of sucks at it) - before the inevitable so when Will stormed into the room and slammed the door, I was lying behind the shelter of her bed and thus out of sight from the door.

"Ugh!" Will grumbled, sprawling on the bed. "Why doesn't she ever _listen_?"

Her pet squeaked enquiringly and - knowing what would be most likely to calm Will down - I scooped the dormouse out from under her bed and dropped it onto her stomach. She automatically began to pet it, and I judged the tactic to be a success.

Sitting down cross-legged behind the bed I rested my arms on the mattress and my chin on my arms. "She said no to joining the swim team?"

"'No. Now clear the table'," she quoted bitterly. "Collins told her my grades are no good so I'm not allowed to do anything but study."

I hmmed sympathetically. Will had been all fired up about being asked to join Sheffield Institute's swim team for the local championships. Swimming was something she enjoyed and was good at (from the descriptions I wanted a chance to try it myself but the opportunity hadn't arisen), making it a welcome change from most of her classes. "Did she mention anything specific?"

Will shook her head. "It's not fair. I could try to bring my grades up but she has spoken and she'll never change her mind."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." She rolled over to face me, still holding her dormouse against her. "What makes it worse is that I've got history first class tomorrow with Mr. Collins. Mom will probably get a report from him on every detail before I even have lunch!"

"Is he really that bad?"

Will made a grumbling sound. "If he wasn't a teacher... and if he wasn't making moves on Mom... and spying on me for her... he might just be some old guy."

"So, if he wasn't involved in your life at all then you wouldn't care one way or another about him?"

"Pretty much."

I nodded. "Well that sounds pretty monstrous."

"Yeah, if you met him you could see for yourself." Then she sat up sharply. "Hey..."

I pushed myself back a bit so I could see her. "Uh... hey?"

"You're pretty much stuck here all day, mostly, right?"

"Yeeeaah." I had an idea of what she had in mind and it excited me. Sure, it'd be wrong... but that just made it all the more exciting in some ways.

Will shuffled her pet around to her shoulder so that she could look me in the eyes. "But you'd like to get out some more, right?"

"As long as Elyon doesn't stick me in another painting."

"She couldn't do that if you were at school," my sister said triumphantly.

Yes! She suggested it! She's going to let me do it! "But doesn't that mean you'd be cutting school?" I asked. "Mom's mad about your grades already and I don't know most of the stuff."

"You'll be fine! You've read, like, every school book I have, cover to cover. _I_ haven't done that yet. Besides, while you're at school I can get all my homework done for the week. Even if I can't go swimming that would mean I wouldn't have to miss doing any if some Guardian business comes up."

"Well..." Even my feigned reluctance - I didn't want her to think was a pushover - was slipping. "You'll do all the chores too? I don't want to get stuck with doing two days worth."

"Of course!"

"Just this once then." Yes! Yes! Yes!

W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.

I didn't even get into the school buildings before I got a reminder of the downsides of going to school.

Taranee was being backed against a tree by four guys I recalled from my first day, the ones that had probably trashed the bike shed. The only one I could put a name to was the spotty one with ginger hair (lighter than mine and Will's) gelled up in spikes: Uriah. However I did recognise the other three and mentally labelled them until I learned their actual names. There was the fat one, the tall one and the... eh, for lack of other terms the nervous one. He looked pretty reluctant to be involved in whatever was going.

"Let's go, Uriah!" the nervous one pleaded. "Kids are starting to get here."

"Shut it Nigel." The leader of the little pack jostled forwards and cupped Taranee's chin. "I just want this little girl to understand the rules around here. Her family has just arrived in town..."

"Ooo. _I_ just moved here," I chimed in, having snuck up on them while their attention was directed at Will's... at _my_ friend. "Are you going to tell me these rules too?"

"Whu- what! Where'd you come from?" spluttered the ginger-haired boy, letting go of Taranee and trying to muster an intimidating sneer.

I snapped my finger. "Oh wait, there's only four of you and there's two of us. You're outnumbered. Do you want to get... four more losers to hang out with you, so you don't feel intimidated? Wait, make that six. I have a pet dormouse and you know how bady you got hurt last time you ended up in a fight with a small furry animal."

The small furry animal in question was Will's dormouse. Uriah was, in a backhanded way, the reason she'd adopted the little creature and the cause of her first meeting with Matt. Not that I think that the ginger boy thought of the event that way.

"Yeah?" he snapped. "I still owe you for that."

"All donations to my lunch money are tax-deductable!" I have no idea what 'tax-deductable' means but I'm pretty sure he didn't either.

Nervous Nigel shot Taranee a look. "Uh, dude, there's people watching us on the steps." He hadn't even looked in that direction, but it got the other boys' attention.

We all looked and the only one there was Hay Lin, today wearing a shocking pink pair of goggles as a hair band and just taking her nose out of a comic book.

"People? There's like one little girl?"

"Uh, it looked like more..." Nigel muttered. Was it my imagination or was Taranee paying rather more attention to him than to Uriah?

"Whatever." There _were_ other students arriving from the direction of the gates which I guess may have influenced Uriah's decision-making process (whatever that was). "Come on boys. We'll finish this conversation some other time."

They schlepped off, Nigel lagging behind them. He looked back and I saw Taranee give him a little smile and a wave.

"What was that about?" Hay Lin asked. "Were they bothering you?"

"I think one of them was flirting with Taranee," I teased. "And she liked it."

Hay Lin gasped. "Not Uriah!"

"No!" squeaked Taranee in horrified denial. "Nigel!" Then slapped both of her hands hard across her mouth and if had been possible with her skin tone I swear she'd have blushed like a traffic light.

"You could do worse."

"_Will_!"

I grinned broadly. "Just saying. Hope it works out for you."

She hung her head. "My mom sentenced him to three months of community service for breaking into the museum. She's gonna hate him."

(This had happened during our own mis-adventure in the museum, but since Uriah's little band snuck in _after_ the Guardians got zapped into the painting and were caught before we left, we hadn't seen any of it. All things considered I could live with that. Exactly what they'd been up to I didn't know, but since they'd apparently claimed to have encountered monsters, it was a safe bet that Cedric was involved.)

"Your mom?"

"She's a judge, remember?" Hay Lin 'reminded' me.

Whoops. "Uh..."

Taranee's eyes narrowed suspiciously behind her glasses. *You're not Will!* her voice accused in my mind.

"Yeah..." I scuffed my trainers against the grass. "I wasn't trying to hide that from you?"

"Shhhh..." Hay Lin hissed. *Talk like this.*

*Uh... this is kind of weird,* I 'thought', uncertain of how they were doing this or if they would hear me.

*It's kind of useful for talking about _private_ business,* Taranee thought dismissively. *But where's Will? Is she okay? Did something happen?*

*She's fine, she's just... er, it probably wouldn't be a good idea for her to be in Mr Collins' class this morning.*

*She's _cutting_ class? Maybe we could too!*

*Hay Lin! We can't do that!* Taranee sounded appalled at the idea. *What if we got caught? What if Will gets caught!*

*It should be okay just this once. She's gonna get caught up on her homework,* I assured them although the fact that Will had just gone straight back to bed once she was sure I was up and starting off her morning routine didn't reassure me. *Her Mom was complaining about her grades last night.*

*Well she shouldn't be cutting class then. I'd have suspected Irma of this but not Will.*

The bell went and I knew I'd have to hurry to get to class on time. Fortunately Will had given me a map to guide me between the classrooms. I didn't want to get her into trouble by being late.

As it was I managed to get into the classroom barely before the second bell went off. If I remembered my notes right, that one was the tardy bell so I was only just in time. I'd have checked, but I knew that one of the notes was an instruction not to look at the notes in class in case someone else got a look at them. Which, I suddenly realised, wasn't going to make them terribly useful.

"Welcome back," the teacher - Mr. Collins presumably - said archly as he saw me slip in. "Good of you to turn up on time... barely."

Well, my first impression was that he was a jerk. That was a point in favour of Will's opinion being right.

Cornelia leant over slightly as I sat down at the desk next to her. "Are you okay, Will?" she whispered.

"Just a little Uriah problem," I muttered back.

She rolled her eyes. "Better watch out for Mr. Collins. He got out of the wrong side of bed this morning. Donny already got sent to Principal Knickerbocker."

I nodded my understanding and hastily unpacked my notebook and a pencil from Will's bag, trying to recall who Donny was - other than presumably whoever had been sat at the only desk that had paper and pen on it but no student sitting there.

"This year's programme is extensive," the teacher announced, moving around his desk and stalking through the class. "And this is why I've decided to give you a healthy review."

He was heading in my direction I realised. Had he noticed something out of place. No way! I'd done everything right so far, hadn't I? I don't think Cornelia had noticed I wasn't Will yet and she had to know us much better than Mr. Collins (I'd have to tell her as soon as I got the chance or she'd be furious at being left out of the loop).

"Will!"

Urk!

"Can you remind us what life was like in the Middle Ages?"

It took a moment to sink in that he was just asking me a question and not unmasking me as an imposter. Okay, right... Middle Ages, Middle Ages... "Could you be a _little_ more specific?" I asked to buy me some time. "The Middle Ages lasted about five hundred years didn't they?"

"One of us is the teacher, who just asked a question," he told me with a nasty edge to his voice. "And it _isn't_ you."

"Okay, okay. Um... it was the feudal period. Most people were peasants who had these little allotment type farms and couldn't grow much more food than they needed to feed themselves and had to give a... tithe, I think? - to the local baron..."

"Uh-huh." He raised his finger. "Well it doesn't seem that much has sunk in."

Hey! That's totally unfair. I had, like, _ten seconds_. There are two whole chapters in Will's textbook about the Middle Ages - that's more than a hundred pages. How could I possibly sum that up so quickly?

"Well I think there's a simple remedy here, Will." There was what I took for a mischievous look in his eyes before he turned away and I glared _death_ at the back of his head. "Today we're going to move on to deal with the Renaissance period but you can also write me a report on the State of Man during the Middle Ages. Thirty pages should do it."

I looked at my notebook and then started counting pages. Ten, fifteen, twenty... oh no! Thirty pages is a _huge_ amount of paper.

"Thirty pages?" Cornelia exclaimed.

"I think that seems fair," Mr. Collins agreed. "Would anyone else like to do the same report? Because that's as well as the regular homework for today's class..."

Cornelia shot me a pitying look but shut up. I couldn't blame her. What did I do wrong? Will's going to be _furious_ and Mom's going to have a field day!

W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.

"Does he always do that?" I asked over lunch, which we were eating outside on the lawn rather than the cafeteria where we'd be more likely to be overheard.

"He doesn't usually hand out punishments like that," agreed Cornelia. I'd filled her in after history on who I was. "Still, maybe you should have Will do the report. After all, she's had plenty of spare time today."

I get the distinct impression that she was a little bit mad at Will about swapping out with me for the day. That put her on the same side as Taranee, but the dusky-skinned girl was currently a bit distracted by Irma who had finished her own packed lunch and was now trying to wheedle away Taranee's last sandwich.

"She'll be back at school tomorrow," I pointed out and clutched at my hair. "I've never actually written a report before now, can someone -"

Irma snatched the sandwich out of Taranee's hands right before the Guardian of Fire was about to take a bite and the rest of us were forced to scramble out of the way as the brunette bolted with her prize, our other friend right on her heels.

"Seriously, leave it to Will. You let her get away with too much."

"Well maybe I'll give her the normal homework. But I must have messed up to get the extra report so I'll deal with it."

"You're incorrigible," Cornelia sighed.

I looked over at where Taranee had tackled Irma to the ground, causing the sandwich to go flying off into the bushes. "Are you sure you aren't talking about Irma?"

"Irma's insane, we all know that. But you're not really living your own life, you're just getting by on the scraps from Will."

"That's... not true." It sounded weak even to me.

She rolled her eyes. "Seriously, you clean up after her every day. You help with her homework... now she's sending you to school for her."

"It's just this once!"

"So far," Cornelia told me with a flick of her hair. "Why don't you leave her the homework and come over to mine for dinner. She can hide out in the library - no one would ever go looking for Will there - and you can see what real sisters are like."

"You have a sister?"

"Yeah, the little monkey." I'm pretty sure it was an insult, but Cornelia said it fondly.

"I'd like to meet her, but if I do what you say then I'd be ditching my work onto Will, maybe another time."

Cornelia sighed. "You're an idiot. But I suppose you're our idiot."

"Have you chosen a name yet?" asked Hay Lin. "Because we can't keep just calling you not-Will."

I shook my head. Who knew picking a name would be so hard? Will still hadn't managed to pick a name for her dormouse either.

"Why not Astra?" Cornelia suggested. "It's a pretty name."

"It is pretty, but I'm more than just an astral drop," I objected.

"I'm going to call my astral drop Yan Lin, for grandmother," Hay Lin decided.

"You're going to create one?"

"Well not now, but next time Mum and Dad need me to help at the restaurant," she explained.

Cornelia gave me a 'you see what you started' look.

"What are you talking about?" asked Irma, plumping herself down next to us, the squabble with Taranee apparently over with.

Hay Lin sprawled backwards on the grass, stretching her arms out. "We're picking a name for her!"

"You don't get to pick," I protested.

"But we can make suggestions, right?" Taranee asked.

"I guess."

"Well." She knelt down beside me and put one hand on each shoulder. "How about Minerva?"

"'Minerva'?"

"She was a Roman goddess. The story is that Jupiter split his head open and she jumped out, fully grown."

"Well that fits," agreed Cornelia.

"I don't know about having a historical name."

"It's _mythology_ not _history_."

"Well I like it," Irma declared. "We could call you Minnie."

"Never mind." "Forget it." "Next suggestion."

"What'd I say?" Irma asked Hay Lin who gave her shrug rather than get into an arguement.

Cornelia checked her watch. "We're running out of time before next class. I don't suppose anyone's come across anything relating to Metamoor at all? New sightings of Elyon?"

"Not since the museum. Maybe they're backing off?"

"I haven't seen anything new on the map."

Taranee sighed. "Yes, but doesn't need the Heart of Kandrakar to show anything new? That's another reason Will ought to be here. If anything happens, she's halfway across town!"

W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.

*Cornelia! Not-Will!*

The two of us jerked upright in the middle of class, fortunately not while either of us was holding any of the chemistry apparatus we'd been working on.

"Careful girls," the teacher warned. "You're going to be working with an open flame in a minute so sudden movement like that could cause problems."

"Yes, professor," we chorused obediently.

Cornelia brushed at her hair out of habit, although it wasn't really necessary since she had tied it back with a pony-tail for safety during the lab. (We also got cool white coats and goggles, Hay Lin must love dressing up for this class). *What is it, Taranee?*

*Miss Randolph is back from Metamoor!*

*Who?* I asked, paying more attention to measuring out the acid we were supposed to be working on this class into test tubes.

*Our old maths teacher,* explained Taranee. *She's a sort of..."

*She's a lizard-monster from Metamoor,* Irma explained. *She tried to lure Will off to her house for some gnarly scheme but Hay Lin and I were on to her!*

*Hehe,* Hay Lin laughed nervously. *Actually she caught us sneaking around and Will had to rescue us. But she helped us when we went to Metamoor to rescue Hay Lin.*

*Well what's she doing here?* asked Cornelia. *Is she after Will again?*

*Worse! She's teaching us algebra!*

I almost dropped the pipette I was using when Taranee squealed: *Irma!*

*What? She's a fiendish alien. I'd think she'd have standards!*

Cornelia picked up a jar of metal filings. *Irma? Could you drop any other bombshells _before_ we're actually working with fire?*

*Well she wants us to go to her house for tea and cookies after school,* explained Hay Lin. *I think we should - she says that she wants to help us. Plus she's way cooler than the substitute teacher.*

Irma sounded petulant. *I don't trust her.*

*She helped us in Meridian. If she hadn't, we might not have managed to rescue Taranee. And... we need someone who can tell us about Metamoor. Since grandmother died we haven't had anyone who can tell us what's going on.*

I nudged Cornelia as I saw the teacher heading back in our direction. We quickly started following the directions on the board.

*Hay Lin's right,* Cornelia decreed, drawing up a chart to record our results as I picked up the first spatula of filings. *But we'll go together, so someone has to let Will know to come. If she is up to something then having all five Guardians together should be enough to take care of anything that comes up.*

Taranee sounded embarrassed. *I can't talk to her like this when she's so far away.*

*We'll call her or something. Now if you don't mind, I do have a class to complete.*

W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.

"What's wrong?" Cornelia asked when she saw me lower Will's mobile from my ear.

"She didn't pick up."

The blonde rolled her eyes. "Typical. Did you leave a message?"

I shook my head. "If I leave a message and Mom is the one that gets it our secret would be out."

"She must have just stepped out."

"She shouldn't." I certainly didn't dare go out until school let out, in case someone asked why I wasn't _at_ school. "Maybe she's asleep."

"At two in the afternoon?" asked Cornelia incredulously.

I shrugged. "I don't know." There were other possibilities of course. Possibilities that scared me. Had Cedric or Elyon struck while Will was alone?

Cornelia rested her hand on my shoulder for a moment. "I'm sure she's alright. I'll ride home with you after school and fill her in on the way to Miss Rudolph's."

"And..." I bit off the sentence before I could finish it.

"Then we'll _find_ her."

I barely paid any attention to the last class of the day, although I managed to put up a pretense after the teacher threatened me with a detention. The minute the last bell rang I shoved everything higgledy-piggledy into my bag and ran out of the door.

"Will, wait!"

I almost forgot myself and reminded Cornelia that I wasn't my sister, before I remembered that she had to maintain the pretense as well. I slowed down and let her catch up.

"You know, you've got a lot to learn about being an Infielder," she grumbled.

"A what?"

"An Infielder. Look, you know Uriah and his crew?"

I nodded.

"Well they're Outfielders - the school slobs and losers. Infielders are the opposite, people like me."

Well I knew which I wanted to be more like and it wasn't those boys. "Please teacher, teach me."

Cornelia threw back her head and laughed. "Well one important lesson is that you can't ever look like you're taking anything too seriously. Because if you're having to do that then you're not in control."

"But we're not in control."

She gave me a reproving look. "Shhhh. That's a secret."

I was surprised how fast Cornelia could walk without appearing to hurry at all. I suppose her long legs helped with that. I had to trot a little to keep up but I tried my best to keep from showing that I was in a hurry. Even with Cornelia setting the pace we got our bikes and cycled off the grounds before most of the kids had even made it out of the building.

It was nice just to hang out, chatting with Cornelia as we rode. I made a mental note: definitely going to arrange with Will sometime that I can take Cornelia up on the offer to meet her family.

When we reached the apartment block, she paused at the bicycle rack, still perched in the saddle. "Do you want me to wait down here?"

"I'd appreciate the company," I told her. It was true... and if my fears proved right then I'd want a Guardian to be with me.

At the top of the stairs I did my usual fumbling around with the keys.

"Why do you have so many keys?" asked Cornelia, with an air of amusement.

I finally found the right ones. "Will keeps the keys from her old apartment on the same ring."

"Why would she do that?"

I shrugged. "I never asked."

The apartment was quiet and I poked my head into the sitting room and then the kitchen as I went past. No sign of Will, or Mom. Still, there was also no sign of a struggle. I saw the laundry basket was filled with bedding so she'd been here long enough to have done at least some of the chores.

"Will!" Cornelia called out.

No answer.

We exchanged looks and then I pushed open the door to Will's room. I half-expected her to be at the desk, wearing headphones or something that had kept her from noticing us or the earlier phone calls but the room was as vacant as the rest of the apartment.

"Where is she?" Cornelia asked.

"I've no idea." I moved a chair below the hatch and scrambled onto it so that I could check my hiding place. "See if you can find any clues."

"Sure." Cornelia looked around and added: "Frogs _everywhere_."

"Don't you think that they're cute?"

"As if." She shuddered slightly. "Horrible little slimy creatures." Then the elegant girl squeaked. "Er... there's something moving under the bedcovers!"

Looking down I saw she was right. Still, it couldn't be very large... maybe the size of... aha. Hehehe. "Oh, that's just my sister's pet." I paused as if in thought. "Uh, since you don't like frogs..."

"That's a _frog_!" Cornelia screeched and retreated to the door.

I couldn't help but laugh at the look on her face. I'm pretty sure a frog the size of Will's dormouse would be the biggest frog in the world. "...how do you feel about dormice?"

"Oooh, you..." she huffed.

Since there was no sign of Will up in the loft I scrambled down. "He's a mite feisty."

"Well unless Will's hiding in the bathroom, she's not here," Cornelia grumbled. She went over to the desk and started looking through the mess on it. "She couldn't have left a note or something?"

"Probably not," I headed to the door. "I'll check the rest of the apartment."

Will wasn't in the bathroom. I was checking the kitchen again, to see if it looked like she'd had lunch here when I spotted a blinking light on the ansaphone. Will couldn't have left a message on it in case Mom heard it, but perhaps it would explain why she had left?

"It's me honey," Mom's voice came from the machine when I pressed the button. "I'll be late today, but I'll bring something ready for dinner. Make sure you keep your cell phone on so I can get hold of you of anything comes up."

Nothing out of the ordinary there. Mom's left messages like that at least twice since I started living here.

There was another message though. "Hello Will! It's Vera! I have some great news for you! Come to the swimming pool when you can!"

...she wouldn't!

The machine flicked to a third message as I stared at it. "It's your Mom again. I forgot to say this first time I called. I love you, honey."

"I love you too Mom." Shaking off my fit of fear, I ran back to the bedroom and started looking for the orange sports bag that Will kept her swimming gear in.

"Did you find anything?" Cornelia asked.

"Maybe," I grumbled. "You?"

"Just a lot of homework. _Unfinished_ homework," she added for emphasis.

I groaned. "And I can't find her swimming kit! I can't believe she'd do this!"

Cornelia crossed her arms but kindly refrained from saying 'I told you so'. She was certainly thinking it though. "Well you can't go to the swimming pool to get her, so I'll have to. You got to Miss Randolph's and let the others know what's going on."

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"Will!" Taranee cheered as I let my bicycle coast to a halt. The three Guardians were waiting across the street from the house that Cornelia had given me directions to. Then she looked up the street behind me. "But where's Cornelia?"

"Fetching Will," I said shortly, not wanting to get into what had happened, at least until I would work out my own feelings about it. How hard could it be to stay in the apartment for just one day? "She sent me to let you know it's going to take a while longer."

Taranee blinked. "Fetch Will? But where from? She should be in your apartment! What if someone spotted her out of school during the day?"

I crossed my arms and shrugged angrily.

"Aw, come on, Taranee!" Irma chirped. "No one would want to spend all day stuck at home with nothing to do but homework and chores. It would be like Hay Lin not writing on her hands anymore."

I looked over and the Guardian of Air was indeed scribbling something onto the palm of her hand with a felt-tip. "I can't _imagine_ how terrible it would be to be cooped up all day like that," I snapped at the brunette. "Oh wait, I don't have to imagine it."

"Yeah, but it's different for you."

"What is Hay Lin scribbling anyway?" Taranee asked hastily, moving between Irma and I in an obvious attempt to keep us from fighting.

"Huh. Good question." Irma scrambled over to her friend and grabbed her by the hand. "Lemme see! It's... they make us... reserve..."

"No," disagreed Taranee, edging in to look at the hand from the other direction. "It's something like: where is someone... or..."

Hay Lin sighed and looked over at me. "I wanted to be discreet about it, but I'll say it out loud. There is someone observing us." She pointed with her other hand at Miss Randolph's house and I saw that the curtains over one of the windows had been pulled back and a grandmotherly-looking woman was waving at us in a friendly fashion.

"Oh man..."

"I guess we'd better go in," Irma decided. "Come on girls."

Hay Lin and Taranee grudgingly followed her across the road, then Hay Lin doubled back and towed me after them by one arm. I hadn't realised I was even invited.

The woman - Miss Randolph - greeted us warmly, having us hang up our coats in the porch before ushering us into her sitting room where she had laid out two plates of cookies and a tea set. "Now don't be shy," she insisted as she sat in an armchair at one end of the coffee table. "Do you like milk with your tea?"

I swear Irma's eyes were almost as large as her mouth (and she has a huge mouth) as the cups and saucers floated into the air and started to serve us without anyone laying hands upon them.

"Do you have magic too, Professor Randolph?" exclaimed Hay Lin.

The teacher smiled warmly. "All of my people have some magic," she told us. "Although we can mostly only use it for small things like this. They're nothing compared to the powers possessed by you guardians."

Irma looked away from the sugar bowl, from which tongs were currently moving a pair of sugar cubes into her drink in response to her signalling. "Why did you invite us here? Do you have anything to tell us?"

Her own tea in hand, Miss Rudolph leant back into her chair. "Last time that we met, girls, I was hiding in the underground passages of Meridian. Wandering in those dark places I had the chance to meet many refugees, rebels who hate and despise Phobos and his tyranny." She sighed. "Some of the most resentful and well-trained amongst them have presented themselves to Vathek, a servant of Cedric - who I believe you have all met."

"But Cedric is Phobos' lieutenant," I objected. "Why would they do that if they hate him?" I sipped from my own cup and hid a flinch. Wow, tea was served hot. I'd prefer something cooler to drink.

"Ah, well that man claims to have left his master's service. Now he has offered to place all his knowledge gained in previous years at the disposal of the rebels."

"And so?" asked Hay Lin. "What if it's the truth?"

"Let us speak honestly," Miss Rudolph said kindly. "Do you trust me?"

"Certainly," agreed Taranee - rather uncertainly.

Hay Lin beamed innocently. "Sure."

"Then why haven't the two you touched them tea and biscuits? Do you think they're poisoned?"

Crumbs sprayed out of Irma's mouth. "Uh... They aren't, are they?"

I examined my own cup. "What does poisoned mean?" Neither Taranee nor Hay Lin had touched their own tea yet, I realised. Or taken a cookie.

Taranee glared intently at the suddenly nervous Irma and it didn't take a genius to guess that they were communicating telepathically.

"Irma is quite right, Taranee," the teacher told them and offered her the plate. "Why don't you try one of the coconut ones. They're delicious."

"You can read our thoughts?" the studious girl squeaked nervously. "But in Maths class..."

Miss Rudolph offered me the plate next. "Poisoning, Will, means having someone add something extra to food or drink so as to harm anyone who eats it. A horrible thing to do."

Not sure what the cookies were, I picked one at random. I'm not sure if it was coconut or not, but it was indeed delicious.

"The reason I asked if you trusted me," she told us, "is to illustrate how hard it is for us to trust Vathek. It is all too believable that he could still be serving Cedric's ends. Nonetheless, there are those desperate enough for any escape that he has persuaded them to join him in invading the Earth. And they intend to do so tonight."

"Tonight!" Taranee exclaimed. "Right now?"

"Within the next few hours. He was still gathering together a sufficient force, but he past planning to come through very soon."

Ah man. Now she was looking at me expectantly. Oh, no! She thought I was Will, that I was in charge. What would Will do now?

I placed my cup down on the saucer. "Can you tell us what portal he will use?"

Miss Rudolph rose to her feet and started pacing unhappily. "Unfortunately, no. I hoped that you could tell _me_ that."

"I have the map of the portals with me..." Hay Lin offered. "But..."

"It's something to start with," Irma said hastily. "We have to assume it's a portal we've already come across."

"Well it can't be the school gym," pointed out Hay Lin. "Will closed that one."

"The same for the one in the cave is sealed," I added to make it look like I was participating. "But Vathek... it has to be one he would know."

"There is one here," Miss Randolph advised us. "But thus far it has been my little secret."

We looked at each other, somewhat at a loss. The silence was broken by my phone going off. I fumbled a little and then figured out how to get it working. "Hello?"

"Will?" It was Cornelia.

"Close enough."

She sounded breathless. "I haven't found her anywhere. We're just going to have to talk to Miss Randolph without her."

"Actually... we're sort of talking to her right now," I explained weakly.

There was an irritated huff. "I thought _Irma_ was the one that was afraid of her."

"We may have bigger problems. I don't suppose you know of any portals that you haven't mentioned to the rest of us?"

"What? No. Why do you ask?"

I outlined the situation quickly.

She didn't hesitate. "We never did find the portal at the bookstore, did we?"

"...let me put Irma on the line." I handed the phone to Irma and looked over at the others while the brunette started talking a mile a minute to Cornelia. "The old bookstore."

"Of course!" Taranee exclaimed.

"We don't have much time," Hay Lin fretted.

"Then we gotta go!" Irma declared. "No, that wasn't to you, Corny." She held the phone away from her ear for a moment. "Thanks for the tea and cookies, Miss Randolph."

"You're welcome, girls." She gave the phone, still spitting out Cornelia's imprecations, an amused look.

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I couldn't concentrate on my report.

The cellphone was on the table in front of me in the public library, next to the books I was trying to take notes from. I kept checking the time on it.

The Guardians had spread out to look for Will, but they had all agreed that I shouldn't do that. There was too much risk of Will and I being seen together.

Whether they found Will or not, the Guardians of the Veil would be at Elyon's house at six-thirty.

I checked the phone again. It was six-twenty-eight. Thirty seconds since I had last checked.

The book in front of me was talking about landowners and serfs. Two men, one of whom had everything and one who had nothing. I turned the page to hide the illustrations and mopped at my face with a hankie. Then I turned the page back, picked up my pen and jotted down a note.

The phone again. It had ticked over to six-twenty-nine.

I checked the page again and then turned it again.

Was that how it was for me and Will? She had everything and I got the scraps?

She'd called me her sister, I reminded myself. When Elyon captured me, she risked her life to come to my rescue.

The cellphone buzzed and I hit the accept button before I could get a nasty look from the other people in this part of the library. Apparently there was a rule about being quiet.

"Yes?" I hissed into the phone.

"It's Cornelia," she sounded stressed. "Irma found her. We're going in."

"Good luck."

I heard her sigh - I don't think she meant me to hear that - and then she took a confident tone. "Luck is what people who don't know what they're doing rely on. I'll call you later."

"Could I -" I broke off when I realised she'd put the phone down.

I'd just wanted to speak to Will. But perhaps it was for the best that I didn't. She was going into battle and I didn't know what I wanted to say.

At least they were together. All five Guardians working together... Vathek and his followers didn't stand a chance.

I clung to that belief as I jotted down page after page of notes. I wasn't sure how to turn the notes into a report, but Taranee had offered to advise me on that, so for now I just kept recording anything that seemed it might relevant.

My phone sounded again and I snatched it up. "Is everything okay?"

Mom sounded bemused. "Yes, Will. Everything's fine. I'm not as late as I expected though."

"Oh. Um, that's good." Which in general was true but was probably going to be really inconvenient once Will got back. Swapping places was always easier to hide when Mom wasn't at home.

She laughed. "So what mischief are you up to right now?"

"I'm at the library."

"_You_ are at the library?"

She didn't have to sound _quite_ that sceptical, did she? "Well you did say my grades weren't good enough and I have a huge history report that no doubt Professor Collins can tell you all about so it seemed like the place to go."

"Well, good for you, honey. I thought you'd be at the swimming pool with your friend Vera."

What? Oh, that message on the answerphone. "I wish I was. I thought I might go there when I was done here," I added since she might notice that Will's swimming gear was gone. "But this is taking longer than I thought."

"How about I pick you up then?" she suggested. "Can you be outside in a few minutes?"

"Sure." I started closing up the books I'd been looking at. "I'll see you then."

Shovelling my own things into the bag was easy enough but I had to scurry about to put the books back where I'd found them on the shelves.

"You know, you don't really need to put them back," one of the assistants pointed out, taking one book from me and placing it back on the high shelf I'd found it on. (There had been a stool first time I was in that aisle, but typically someone had moved it away). "Just pile them up on the end of the table and one of us will take care of it."

"Really?"

The assistant nodded. He was a nice looking boy. Well, I say boy - I guess he was college age or something. "Really really," he confirmed with a superior look.

I was far too impatient to hold that against him though. "Thanks!" I plunked the rest of the books into his arms and ran back to my bag.

There was a mutter of "Me and my big mouth," from his direction but I ignored it as I slung my backpack over one shoulder and dashed towards the outside. The library had been pretty interesting, really. I should probably come back if I got the chance.

Why shouldn't I get the chance? Will got to do whatever she wanted. Including going swimming or whatever it was she'd been up to instead of doing her homework like she promised me. I could just... come here. I didn't have to do the chores... she'd not even pressed me to do them particularly but I'd leapt at the chance to do something for her.

Will's bike was still locked to the railing where I'd left it. I was still getting it unlocked when a car horn honked and I turned around to see Mom's red station wagon pulled up against the curb.

She wasn't alone. Professor Collins got to the back of the car around the same time I did. "Do you need a hand with your bike, Will?"

"I think I can manage," I protested, trying to lift the bike up into the back. After watching me struggle for a moment he reached out and wordlessly hoisted it up by the saddle so that I could move it the rest of the way.

"Okay Will?"

I searched his face for any trace of the expression I'd seen earlier in class, the one that preceded that ambush. Perhaps it was my own inexperience but I couldn't see a sign of amusement... or had it been malice? "Thank you, Professor."

While he went back around to get into the front next to Mom I couldn't resist the temptation to clamber into the back, pulling the door down behind me, and then over Will's bike and the headrests to get into the back seat. Give me a break, it was my second car ride ever!

Mom shook her head in amusement. "You haven't done that in years, Will. Remember to buckle up."

"Okay, okay." It took me a little fumbling to get the belt around me. "Uh, since you're here Professor Collins, how long do I have for that report on the Middle Ages? I've never done a thirty page report before and I'm not sure how long it will take."

Okay, maybe it was a _bit_ mean to call him on that in front of Mom, but after him dropping the assignment on me first thing in class today? He deserved much worse. I was _practically_ giving him an easy time in fact.

He twisted in the seat to look back at me, which was kind of awkward since I'd taken the seat behind him. "I'm sorry Will, what report on the Middle Ages?"

What? "The... thirty page one? The State of Man in the Middle Ages? It was practically the first you did in class today?"

"Will, don't talk to Dean like that!" Mom snapped.

I realised my voice had risen a bit. "...okay, sorry. I didn't mean to shout."

"Well that's alright. But I'm fairly sure I'd remember asking the class for thirty pages of homework. If nothing else, Will, I'd have to mark all of it."

Was he really... he was! He was just... denying it! "You didn't give it to the class, Professor."

"_Will..._"

"You singled _me_ out and set _me_ a thirty page assignment. Now you're a teacher and you can do that. I get that. But now you're _lying_ about it!?"

"_Will Vandom! Do not use that tone of voice!_" Mom slammed on the brakes and I saw her hands were white around the steering wheel.

"Susan..." Professor Collins reached across and touched her arm gently.

"I'm sorry Dean, but I think we're not going to be able to have dinner tonight," she bit off. "It seems that someone is going to be spending the rest of this evening -"

"Susan," he repeated, interrupting her flow. Brave man. I was shrinking back into the corner of the car, away from the anger in Mom's eyes. "Let's pull over a moment and calm down before anyone says something they regret later."

Rather jerkily, she started to do what he had asked.

The teacher took a deep breath. "Will, I admit I was a bit... unwell earlier in the day and I don't recall first period very well. I do not remember giving you that homework, but I may be mistaken." The car came to a stop and he opened his door. "Susan, could we talk outside for a moment?"

She followed him out of the car, giving me a repressing look. The angry words she and Will had exchanged the night before and on other occasions had never made sense to me - Mom was such an affectionate person - but now I could understand why Will found her so frustrating. She'd chosen to believe Collins over me without any hesitation at all.

With the doors closed I couldn't hear them talk but I was able to open it a crack.

"...a lot like someone else I know." I saw that Professor Collins was holding Mom's hand, rubbing the back of it gently with one thumb. "She's a sensitive girl and reacts very passionately. If someone in authority over you, someone in a position of trust, seemed to be persecuting you, wouldn't you be furious?"

The words sank in. She listened to _him_.

But _he_ was the one whose fault it was in the first place!

"Do you really think Will would lie about something like that?" he pressed on gently. "I realise that I don't know her as well as you do..."

"I suppose not." She sighed. "Still, she should know better than to speak to you like that!"

"Sometimes when we're angry we all say things without thinking."

I closed the door gently. On the one hand, it seemed that Professor Collins was manipulating Mom, but on the other... he was doing so in a way that got me off the hook. Will off the hook. Ugh, this was confusing. What should I do?

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked for messages. Nothing. Were they alright? I realised that if everything did go horribly wrong then I might never know exactly what happened.

The phone was shaking in my hand. I thought it was vibrating for a moment and then discovered it wasn't the phone. It was my hand that was doing the shaking.

A soft hand pressed against the side of my face and I turned to see Mom leaning into the car over me. When had she opened the door? "Oh Will, what am I going to do with you?" She pulled me into a hug and I buried my face against her sweater to hide the fearful tears spilling down my face.

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Later, much later, I was still nestled against Mom, this time on the couch in our living room.

"Maybe we shouldn't have come here," she sighed. "All we ever seem to do is fight."

"Here?"

"Heatherfield I mean. I know we both wanted a new start..."

Was it Heatherfield that made us fight? Made Will fight Mom, I mean? I hadn't thought that any of their fights were about the town. It was almost always something little I'd thought until I'd was in the middle of one of the arguments. Hardly worth the anger that they both felt.

But things _had_ changed for Will on coming here.

She'd become a Guardian of the Veil, an important responsibility and one that she was hiding from Mom. I got the impression that Mom wouldn't be happy to learn about that, she'd probably insist Will stopped if she found out. That would be a huge fight if she tried to make her stop... and leaving Heatherfield would mean Will couldn't be a Guardian any more: all the portals she was dealing with appeared here.

Cornelia, Taranee, Hay Lin and Irma were all here in Heatherfield. So was Matt. No, Will would hate the idea of leaving Heatherfield.

If we left...

We?

It was hard enough to hide me from Mom around the apartment. There was no possible way that Will and I could both be in the car with her without her noticing something.

If _they_ left then I would be left behind.

The other girls couldn't hide me for long - it wasn't as if I could pretend to one of them and their families would surely realise that something was wrong if 'Will' was still visiting all the time after moving.

I sniffled and Mom pulled me against her again. At least Professor Collins wasn't here right now to see me crying a second time today.

Sitting there pressed against Mom, I realised that I was being selfish and just thinking about myself. Being a Guardian wasn't the only thing that had changed for Will.

She'd gained a sister.

Was this my fault? She hadn't wanted someone to take her place but now she was sharing parts of her life with me!

"It's not Heatherfield," I told Mom. "It's my fault. I mess everything up."

"Oh, honey, that's not true."

She cuddled me more. Under other circumstances I'd have been perfectly happy to stay like that for longer (forever, for example) but the only thought on my mind in that moment was that Will should be here.

"You've made friends here, haven't you? Surely they're not saying that sort of thing about you."

"No..." I couldn't tell her it was Will's life - and hers - that I was messing up.

"Is this about the swimming?"

I tried to remember what Will had said. "It's something I'm good at, something I can do but I'm too dumb to be allowed to do it."

"Oh Will." She patted me reassuringly on the head. "You're not dumb. It's just... I know you can do better than you have. Better than I did."

"Better than you?" That sounded pretty unlikely. "But you're smart and pretty and..."

She blushed a little. "Thank you, Will. But so are you. I believe in you, honey... but I _know_ that if you don't apply yourself a little more then you'll regret it someday."

There was a knock on the door and Mom got up off the couch to let Professor Collins in. He was carrying a big bag of chinese takeaway in one hand and his briefcase in the other. When we got to the apartment he'd given us some time alone. "Thank you Susan," he said when she took the takeout bag from him. "Feeling better, Will?"

Yeah. Some." I mopped at my face. "Sorry about shouting at you," I added reluctantly.

He nodded. "Alight. Now I've done some checking and I think I know what was happened. I should have explained things better to you. I'm your teacher and I should have been more responsible. I'm very sorry."

"So do I have to do the report or not?"

He pulled out a seat at the table and sat down. "I think it would be a good idea. I know your Mom is worried about your grades and an extra credit assignment like this could help pull your average up quite bit. If you really don't want to, I can let you off but I think that this would help you."

What was I supposed to say? That I didn't have time? That I didn't care? I don't think Mom would be too impressed. Besides: "Well I've already started doing research, I may as well finish it."

"That's the spirit," Mom assured me. "Why don't you get cleaned up for dinner. We can talk about some targets for you, ones where I'd be happy for you to join the school's swimming team."

I nodded. The way my face felt I could probably benefit from a washcloth. And maybe a change of clothes. "I'll be a moment then."

My - Will's - room was a welcome refuge.

For about three seconds as I stood with my back to the door, breathing deeply.

I almost shrieked in surprise as Will's head popped up above the far side of her bed. "When did you get back?" I hissed, not wanting Mom to overhear her daughter apparently having a conversation with herself.

"A little while ago," she told me just as quietly. Then she looked me over and frowned. "What's going on? You've been crying!"

"Going on?" My mind raced back over the day.

The horrible history class.

Will going missing.

Tea with Miss Rudolph.

Mom shouting at me.

Worrying about whether she was alive or dead.

"I wish today had never happened!"

Will looked wide-eyed. "It can't have been _that_ bad!"

"Your dinner's on the table." And then I cold-shouldered her, climbing up into my little hidey-hole in the loft where I could curl up on myself and try to pretend that today had been nothing but a bad dream.


	4. Chapter 4

Things had not significantly improved a week later, after I had given Will my completed report to hand in to Professor Collins. With Taranee's guidance, I was fairly sure it would reflect the amount of work that I had put into it and I took a certain satisfaction in the prospect that Will would have to maintain the standard I set with it. Her eyes were certainly disbelieving as she leafed through it.

Will hadn't protested when I went to the library after she was out of school and essentially all day during the weekend. I'm not saying I was spending all that time on the paper - that would have been pretty boring and there were far more books in the library than just the history shelves - but I did manage to flesh out a thirty page report (twice actually, since Taranee's advice required a complete rewrite) well before Professor Collins' deadline.

Of course, since I'd been at the library for pretty much every moment when we might have had a chance to talk without Mom overhearing us, I'm sure Will thought I was avoiding her - or at least the prospect of any extended conversation about my one day of school.

I'm not _sure_ she was wrong.

For now at least, she wasn't trying raise the matter. As I watched from my usual perch just inside the hatch she posed in front of the full length mirror. "Ugh, I look like an endangered species in this outfit!"

"Well the dress works... although maybe it would work better if we were a bit... well, you know." I didn't comment on the boots which she was completely right about.

"Let's change again! I want to find something that will leave Matt breathless!"

The clothes vanished into swirls of pink energy and were replaced by another costume. This time her hair was up in a dramatic, spiky style and the dress... Oh heavens, the _dress_! Well, at least the sandals looked okay.

Apparently a girl - an _older_ girl - had come looking for Matt at his grandfather's pet shop. Since Will was now working there part-time, something Mom was in favour of as a responsible activity, she'd agreed to take a message. Of course, ever since she had been fretting herself silly that Matt and the other girl were in a relationship.

I didn't quite get how changing her look was going to fix that - I mean, sure, Matt is certainly dreamy, but if _I_ wanted him to get romantic with me I'd rather he got that way because of me being the way I am, not because I was pretending to be someone else. For now I'd filed that under the million and one things I didn't understand. Along with, you know, what getting romantic involved. It sounded _exciting_ but I admit to being a little vague on the details.

There was the sound of footsteps from the hall and I pulled my head up through the hatch, preparing to quietly close. Instead of Mom though, I heard Cornelia's voice at the door.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for my friend Will. Have you seen her? I didn't know I was in the zoo."

"Quit joking," Will protested.

"Hi Cornelia!" I whispered, sticking my head out again. "How are you?"

She adjusted her hair and made a non-commital gesture. "And you?"

I point down at Will. "Keeping amused."

"Thanks a bunch." She looked over at our friend. "What do you think?"

"Do you _really_ want my honest opinion?" Cornelia asked, although it was evidently displayed all across her face.

"No." Will banished the garment with a wave of her hands, revealing the sweater she was actually wearing. "I think mine is enough."

"Whatever you say." Cornelia hung her coat over the back of Will's desk chair. "Will, I need to talk to you about Elyon."

My sister perched herself on her bed and looked up at the blonde, "What about her?"

Cornelia turned away, gathering her thoughts. "Before we became Guardians of the Veil, she was different. She was my best friend for years! I don't believe she has turned into a... a monster!"

I half-closed my eyes, thinking of the girl under discussion. We'd only met once and it wasn't under the best of circumstances but... I hadn't seen a monster either. She'd been an enemy and as far as I knew, she still was. But other than that she'd not really been so very different from any of the other girls I knew.

Admittedly, she had powerful magic, but so did every other girl I knew more than in passing. It didn't seem to make a difference for them.

"I want to know why she has changed and if there is something left of the girl I knew," Cornelia continued. "But the only way I can find out is by going to Meridian and talking to her face to face."

Will gasped, brown eyes wide. She dropped her head, hiding her face from both of us. "That's a crazy idea, Cornelia. You know that."

Will had spoken, the decision was made and the conversation was done... hmm. This seems familiar somehow. Of course, Cornelia wasn't Will so she didn't explode in anger and storm out. Instead she gave my sister a hurt look and an uncomfortable silence filled the room.

"Can I come over to your house tonight and meet your sister?" I asked when the silence grew too much to bear.

"I guess," the blonde agreed.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Will leant back and looked up at me. "Last time you went out you came back in tears."

"As long as you don't run off I'm sure everything will be fine," Cornelia told her with heavy sarcasm.

Will flinched. "You know, sometime you're going to have to talk to me about what happened."

"Probably." I scrambled down into the room. "But not today."

She slumped back onto her bed. "Yeah. I get that."

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"Will's only seen Elyon's worst side," Cornelia told me as we walked through Heatherfield, huddled under her umbrella. We probably looked like an odd pair: her tall and elegant in a skirt almost brushing the snow that had fallen over the last couple of days, me shorter with a woollen hat and heavy parka.

The snow looked very pretty through a window but I hadn't expected that it would be so cold.

"I suppose you've seen even less," she admitted. "But Irma and Hay Lin knew her before all of this happened. I'm sure they'll understand."

"I want to understand. She... scared me," I admitted. "But I don't think she's evil, just... I don't know. What was she like before?"

"She was a sweet girl and a good friend." Cornelia's face was wistful. "We used to share everything - she'd come to see me ice skate and show me everything she drew..."

"Artistic then? Like Hay Lin?"

"Yes! And we'd talk about boys for hours."

"There's that much about boys to talk about?"

Cornelia laughed. "Some of them, yes. You'll learn."

"Well she's got a boy now. Cedric. Now him..." I shivered and not because of the snow.

"If we could just get her away from him..."

I put my hand over hers on the handle of the umbrella. "I don't think any of us disagree that it would be better if she came back, Cornelia. But Metamoor sounds _dangerous_. How often have you been there?"

She shivered. "Twice, now."

"And didn't someone get captured both times you were there?"

"What would you do if they'd captured Will?"

I frowned and took my hand off the umbrella. "I see what you mean. It's like that is it?" If that had happened... if it did happen... I shuddered.

Cornelia nodded, knowing that she'd made her point.

Up ahead was Sheffield Institute. It seemed fitting that the Guardians of Air and Water would be out in the snow, although it wasn't for fun. They had both been persuaded to sign up for an extra-credit class taking advantage of the weather and were tramping around the campus with cameras and the supervision of one of the teachers.

I fell back as Cornelia folded her umbrella and went in to explain her proposal to the other two. Crouching by a tree I scraped some snow off with my gloved hand. It was strange. According to Will it was all frozen water - like ice but less so. Quite amazing, although she didn't seem impressed by it.

"Very good idea, Corny!" I heard Irma tell the blonde girl. "If you want Cedric's thugs to attack you, this is definitely the right plan!"

"She's right," agreed Hay Lin more seriously. The lightly built girl was almost swallowed up by an immense, heavily padded blue coat. It looked enviably warm.

Cornelia huffed. "Never mind. I understand you don't agree."

"Hey, I just don't want to spend Christmas vacation in a Meridian prison!" Irma said with a grin. She elbowed Hay Lin. "What about you?"

"Not really," giggled the smaller girl.

Cornelia whirled away abruptly, hair and coat streaming behind them as she strode away. Hay Lin couldn't see the pinched, determined look on the other girl's face but she started after her anyway only to be called back by the teacher.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not going to be taking you to meet Lillian," Cornelia told me.

I fell in behind her, stretching my legs to keep up and enjoying the crunching of my booted feet against the crisp snow. "Why not?"

"I'm going after Elyon."

"Alone? Right now?"

She nodded. "You'd better go home."

"No."

"You can't talk me out of this."

"I'm not going to try. But you're not going alone either."

Cornelia stopped walking and turned to me, shaking her head in denial. "It's too dangerous. You're not a Guardian."

"These would be the same dangers that the others are warning you about? The ones you're planning on taking on alone?"

"They've made their decision."

"I've made mine." I spread my hands. "You aren't the only one with questions for her, Cornelia. So either you agree to me coming with you... or I'll follow you anyway."

She sighed and started walking again. "Are you sure you're not Will? You're as stubborn as she is."

"Well we are sisters. We would have _some_ things in common." Besides, maybe she'd worry about me. It'd give her an idea what it felt like.

"I can already tell that you've mastered the annoying little sister routine. Alright, you can come. But you're not going to like where we're going."

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She was right, I admitted, twenty minutes later as we looked at the store front of the apparently closed Ye Olde Bookstore. This was not somewhere that I wanted to come back to.

"You think she's here?"

"This is where Cedric invited her to, the first time they met. If there's anywhere I can find a way to her, it'll start here."

I squinted through the window. "If there is anyone here. Or anything to find."

"Let's find out." Cornelia took the heavy brass door knob and turned it. The door opened smoothly. Perhaps no one had locked it again after the attempted invasion the week before.

We tiptoed inside and closed the door behind us. It was dark and shady, filled with the musty scent of old leather bookbindings. Much as I remembered it.

Cornelia started as a rustling noise came from further back. "Who's there?" She advanced fearlessly and I hastened to keep up. "Whoever you are, come out now!" she called as we went into the back room. "I know you're there!"

This part of the shop must have been caught up in the attempted invasion - shelves had been knocked against each other and the floor was littered by heavy books. Cornelia picked her way across the room without hesitation only to make a startled noise as she peered around one bookcase. "You!" she exclaimed, jerking upright.

Swirls of green magic exploded around Cornelia and I backed up as the figure of my friend was replaced by someone even taller and more elegant, with delicate leafy wings emerging from between the strands of her long hair. Cornelia's warm winter clothes were replaced by a midriff- and shoulder-bearing top, silky lavender skirt slit to the hip and high-heeled purple boots. "Vathek!"

Taller even than Cornelia and at least three times as massive, the man facing her was bald-headed and bundled in a heavy overcoat, sturdy pants and shirt that wouldn't look out of place anywhere on the street outside. He even wore a long woollen scarf in concession to the cold. However, his pale blue skin and patches of ivory scales made it clear that he was no human, even before I saw the clawed fingers and the pointed ears. "I wasn't expecting this, finding you here," he exclaimed, raising one massive hand to indicate her.

"Get ready to fight against the powers of the Earth!"

Instead - much to our surprise - he turned away, striding back through the shadows of the shop. "I won't fight you."

Cornelia blinked. "You won't? Hey! Wait!"

"Isn't this the guy who was leading the invasion last time?" I asked, moving forwards to join her.

She nodded. "That's him, but I've never seen him back off from a fight."

Together we followed after the Metamoorian, although I did have one more question. "Cornelia?"

"Yes?"

"Is that skirt glued on?"

"What!"

"Well it's got that sort of spiral bit around your belly button..."

She folded her arms across it, defensively. "...it's magic."

We found Vathek behind one of the fallen bookcases, sorting through the books that had fallen from it. At first I thought he was just tidying up but he was checking the titles and I realised he was looking for something specific.

"I've seen what Cedric has done," he told us as we watched.

Cornelia crouched next to him. "What do you mean? Don't you work for him?"

The blue man looked sheepish. "I've had my eyes opened. My people have been suffering for a long time because of Phobos. I couldn't keep following Cedric after I understood that. I'm helping those who fight to bring joy and peace back to Meridian."

"Then what are you doing back on this side of the Veil?" I asked.

He looked up at me. "You... aren't the Keeper, are you?"

"Keeper?"

"Of the Heart of Kandrakar." Vathek lowered his head slightly and scratched the back of his neck. "Then you must be her astral drop."

"Her sister." I folded my arms. "And you're avoiding my question."

"I'm..." He paused and scooped up one of the books. "This. Caleb sent me to find this."

Cornelia swayed slightly and pressed one hand against her forehead. "Caleb?"

"Are you alright?"

"I... I think..." Then to my relief she steadied. An uncertain Cornelia was much more worrying than Vathek.

Vathek! I turned back and saw that he had loped off to one of the still standing bookshelves. It was bare of books through and to my astonishment he _lifted_ the heavy piece of furniture and tossed it aside.

I reappraised my judgement over which of the two was more worrying.

The bookcase had been positioned over a hole in the floor and the Metamoorian hopped down it, landing with his shoulders more or less level with the ground. "Goodbye, Guardian, young lady."

"Wait!" Cornelia sprang to the hole just as he ducked his head down it. "If you're going back to Meridian then take me with you!"

"Us," I reminded her as she jumped down after him.

She ignored me. "If you have changed, maybe Elyon has changed too," I heard her say as I scrambled after them. Beneath the hole was a broad, dark spiral staircase. I had had no idea that there were tunnels like this under Heatherfield. Or was this a portal?

"Don't count on it," Vathek warned. He lifted a short length of wood that had rags wrapped around it and under his gaze flames sprang to life in the rags, lighting up the stair. "She has all but enslaved herself to Cedric."

Cornelia simply stared at him.

With a sigh, the man turned and gestured the direction of travel. "Well... we can hope." I hastened my steps to catch up and the three of us began to walk side by side towards the portal that would take us to the strange world of Metamoor. "Who knows? Maybe Elyon really has changed..."

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My first experience of Metamoor involved water.

Lots of water. Deep water.

Neither Cornelia nor I had expected that the portal would have us emerge beneath water and Vathek hadn't suggested we should hold our breath. Was that an oversight or was he leading us into a trap the whole time?

Still, it was a learning experience. For example, I learned that I can't breathe water. Also, Cornelia's no better at swimming than I am and water has its own ideas about where you wind up once it has you surrounded. Who knew that it moved!? Even without Irma around!

Okay, I noticed this mostly in retrospect. At the time I was mostly flailing widely and worrying about the fiery sensation in my chest.

I think I may have blacked out. I don't remember doing so, but I don't recall anything between that and being cold and wet on a stone floor, someone holding my nose and blowing into my mouth.

I'm _pretty_ sure that Will had told me to slap anyone who kissed me, but moving my arms right now would have been _way_ too much work. "Wurble," I managed when my lips weren't being molested.

"She's alive!"

Oh. Well _that_ was good news. I managed to open my eyes and saw an unfamiliar boy, a little older than I perhaps, moving back from me. A moment later I had a soggy blonde hugging me. It wasn't quite as good as Mom, but it wasn't anything to be upset about. "'nelia."

"Don't you start," Cornelia demanded, laughing in relief. "Irma's nicknames are bad enough." She looked up at the boy. "Caleb gave you CPR and saved your life."

"CPR? Wussat?" I mumbled. My throat still burned.

She sighed. "You'd stopped breathing. He was breathing for you until you started again."

That sounded like powerful magic to me! "That isn't like kissing, is it?"

"_No_!" Cornelia dragged her eyes away from gazing worshipfully up at Caleb. "It's... nothing like that."

"So I don't have to slap him then?" I asked her.

"It would be rather ungrateful," she explained.

There was a chuckle and Vathek moved into view. "That must be a relief, Caleb." He reached down and helped Cornelia and I up to our feet, then steadied me as I checked to see if my legs were working better than my arms had been a moment ago. (They were, but not by all that much). "I lost you both somewhere along the way. Fortunately Caleb saw you in the water and got the two of you out."

"But who are they?" a new voice enquired.

Looking around I realised that the chamber we were in - a tall room with beautifully painted columns that reminded me of Van Dahl's cathedral - was also occupied by a number of green-skinned creatures dressed not unlike the medieval peasants I had seen in books.

"They aren't like us, they can't stay here."

Another squinted suspiciously at Cornelia. "And she's ugly!"

"_Hey_!" the blonde snarled. "Have you looked in the mirror!?"

Caleb gestured for calm. "Settle down all of you." He put one arm around Cornelia's back. "I know that they can be trusted." He wasn't looking at me at all, mind you. Maybe it was just me but I got the impression that I was pretty much vanishing into the background compared to my glamorous friend. Well, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

My musing over whatever was going on with the two was disrupted - as were what they probably thought were covert looks at each other (I was two weeks old, not blind) - by a shout of alarm.

"We've been spotted!" one of the green-skinned people exclaimed, running into the the room. "There are soldiers outside!"

"I knew it!" the suspicious one growled. He'd turned his attention away from Cornelia towards a safer target. "_You_ must have brought them here," he accused me. Or possibly Vathek, it was hard to be sure the way his hand was wavering.

"Is this the end?" one of his companions asked nervously.

If it wasn't for one thing, my impression of these rebels would have dropped into the sewer. That thing was Caleb. The boy only raised his voice slightly but when he spoke it was with unquestionable authority. "Vathek, take one group with you. The others will come with me."

The towering blue man nodded respectfully. "Right." He looked down at me. "Can you run?"

I still felt rather shaky, but: "I'd better, hadn't I?"

Instead of letting me try he simply hauled me up off the ground and perched me on one shoulder. "What you'd better do is hang on tight." Fortunately one of the scaly patches on his head was well placed for me to put my hand onto without incidentally poking his eye out or the like.

It wasn't until we were out of the room - part of a large, palatial complex I discovered to my surprise - that I realised that Cornelia wasn't with us. Craning my head around I could see a enormously long blonde hair next to Caleb's long overcoat near the head of the other group of rebels.

I said a word that I don't think Will knew I'd learned. I'm almost certain she'd be unhappy about my using it. I'm _quite certain_ that Mom would be.

"Is something wrong?" asked Vathek.

"Nothing I can do anything about."

As best I could tell, we were racing to get out of the complex of buildings before the soldiers could get to all of the exits. What I couldn't tell was whether or not we were winning. From the shouting somewhere behind us I had the suspicion that not everyone was that lucky. I hoped Cornelia wasn't one of them.

Then I envisaged a bunch of guards - like Captain Von Schliese's except with scaly skin - trying to restrain an angry and fully empowered Cornelia. Hopefully no one with Cornelia would get caught up in the destruction.

I was just thinking that when Vathek stumbled. He wasn't the only one. The floor of the palace was shaking beneath us.

"Get out in the open!" I shouted as loudly as I could and pulled on Vathek's head to direct him towards what looked like some sort of a park. If one or more of those buildings came down I wanted to be somewhere with plenty of room to run away from it. Well, for Vathek to run away, since if I couldn't rely on my legs when the ground was steady I certainly couldn't now.

There was a massive rumbling noise and I felt rather than saw part of the palace begin to collapse, via Vathek as he dropped to his knees. That still left me above head height of most of the rebels and I twisted around to spot which building it was that was falling.

The _good_ news, I realised, was that the building was going more or less straight down. The _bad_ news was that it was the core of the entire palace. Dust was already rising like smoke from it. "Get down and cover your heads!" I called out and scrambled down from Vathek.

The big man didn't hesitate to drag me under the cover of his coat as the dust cloud swept across us. Given I was choking on it even through Vathek's coat, I can't imagine what it must have been like for everyone else.

It did give me an idea however, so as soon as the rumbling died down I started scrambling out from under my protector.

"Are you..." Vathek broke off coughing. "Are you hurt?" he asked once his throat was clear.

I hawked up and spat dust out of my own mouth. Hopefully Elyon's spell wouldn't make the dust part of me. "No but we need to get going. With all this dust the soldiers won't be able to see us."

His mismatched eyebrows... well, he didn't really have any, but that bit of his forehead moved upwards. I could tell by the scales above his right eye. "You're right. Everyone _up_! We've still got a way to go."

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The dust hid us from the guards well enough, but it also hid any landmarks. When it settled we were still far too near where the palace had been. Vathek hustled everyone into the smaller and far more humble buildings still standing until we could see if it was safe.

Judging by the blue-silver swirling that was taking place in the pit that had replaced the palace, I had my doubts. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Only if you think that it's a portal," he told me. "I've never seen one so large."

"That's... bad. I think."

He nodded slowly. "Phobos can't be allowed to use this... but a lot of my people will want to escape him through it."

I rubbed my head. "That's going to be kind of hard to hide. How many people are we talking about?" Medieval cities weren't usually larger than a few thousand people if the books I'd read were to be believed (I hoped so or my paper might bomb) and Metamoor seemed similar in a lot of ways.

Vathek shrugged. "No one has any idea how many live in Meridian and I couldn't guess how many would take the risk. Thousands upon thousands, I expect. The last mission Cedric gave me before I joined the rebels was to lead a smaller invasion. He said that Phobos believed that doing so could tear down the Veil for good."

Oh great. I could just imagine thousands of Metamoorian refugees spilling onto the streets of Heatherfield. "Then I can't let that happen."

"What gives you the right to say that!" demanded the loudmouthed lizard from earlier. "You don't know anything about our lives! Earth is rich and peaceful! We would be safe there!"

I shook my head. "You _wouldn't_ be safe from Phobos on Earth. Have any of you ever heard of Elias Van Dahl?"

There was a confused grumbling but one of them nodded his head. "I know of him, one of the court painters that vanished after Phobos took over and started having his statues and portraits destroyed."

"He fled to Earth," I told them. "But Phobos sent Cedric after him and imprisoned him for hundreds of years. If you go through that portal then he'll send a whole army after you. And without the Veil there will be _nowhere_ safe."

"Then what can _we_ do!?"

"Do you mean about the portal? Or about Phobos?"

"The portal!" "Either!" "Prince Phobos!" "Both!" The rebels around the room crowded towards me, calling out answers that were really questions.

Vathek raised his hands for silence. "Wait, let her speak."

Well thanks, I thought disgustedly. Why did they think I had answers? I was just a girl who knew almost nothing and had no powers. I wasn't even from a magical world like they were.

Except that to them Earth _was_ a magical world, I realised. One where there was peace and plenty for all. (Even I knew better than that.) A world that magical beings, like the Guardians, came from. If I was from there, why wouldn't they assume me to have some power?

"The portal has to be closed," I told them. "Let Phobos reach other worlds and there will be no hope for this one. That's the purpose of the Veil and why the Guardians must seal the portals through it."

"But why must we suffer under Phobos!?" called out one of the rebels.

I looked him in the eyes. "Isn't that why you are rebelling against him? To bring him down so that the Veil is no longer required. If all the Guardians were doing was containing him then why would Cornelia and I have come here? Portals can be sealed from Earth, but to stop Phobos for good we came here to gather information and to seek out allies: people like you!"

I was stretching the truth. Neither Cornelia nor I had such lofty goals when we came here. But in a way it _was_ true. We both wanted to find out what was going on with Elyon. We knew Phobos had claimed she was his sister - had he taken her into his confidence? Or was this part of some grander scheme. Either way, by learning about her- talking to her - we would learn about his goals and perhaps be able to stop them.

"What can we do?" asked one of the smaller lizards.

"Trust in Caleb," Vathek told them. "Phobos is an usurper but there is a true heir, the Light of Meridian. If we can show her the truth then she can free us all from his terror. But we can't stand up to him if we're running away all the time."

The loudmouth shook his head. "You mean the princess. She's been missing forever."

"Phobos believes he has found her." All eyes turned to me. "Her name is Elyon. I don't know if she is the true heir, but she does have great power. If she is who he claims and if she can be freed from his influence then there will be hope."

Then, just as everything seemed to be getting back under control, another of the rebels scurried into the room. "Caleb's across the other side of the portal," he reported breathlessly. "The Guardian of the Veil from earlier is with him and another Earth girl, a smaller one."

Vathek blinked. "Another Guardian?"

"Let's take a look," I suggested.

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It wasn't one of the other Guardians.

It was Elyon.

The girl was barely visible, surrounded by scores of excited Metamoorians, all of who seemed to want to talk to her, touch her cloak... or at least be able to say they'd seen her. I was pretty sure I was okay to walk, but Vathek had insisted on carrying me and I'd have not been able to make Elyon out at all if it wasn't for the added altitude.

"You won't leave us, will you?" one old - I presumed, from the balding head - man asked her.

"I promise!" she assured him, squeezing his hand reassuringly. "But don't beg, please."

"Huh," I muttered to Vathek. "Maybe she really is a princess."

Elyon looked up and saw us looming over the crowd. Her face seemed to pale slightly at the sight.

"I don't think she likes me," I noted.

Vathek shook his head sadly. "It's probably me. The last time we met was when I deserted Cedric." He lifted me down from his shoulders. "I saw your friend Cornelia near her, will you be alright with her while I talk to Caleb?"

"I should be."

But when I worked my way through the crowd the first blonde I came across wasn't Cornelia. "Oops, sorry," I said, realising I'd burst into the little circle around Elyon. But when I tried to back up, the press of people was too much for me to be able to move away.

Elyon waved at me awkwardly and I returned the gesture.

There was a tugging at my leg and and I found a little kid - perhaps half my already unimpressive height - was responsible. Kind of cute if you don't mind scales and since at least half the people I'd ever met had them, I was just going to have to not mind wasn't I? "Are you a princess too?" the kid asked me seriously.

I giggled slightly at the idea. As far as I could tell from my scanty education, the main thing Princesses did was to get married to someone their father picked out. All things considered, I would be glad to avoid that. "Not me!"

"But you look like her!"

"We really don't." I scooped him up and held him out to Elyon. "Here, take a closer look."

Elyon, not expecting a sudden miniature lizardfolk to be thrust into her personal space froze in place and I amused myself for a second by imagining her eyes going as wide as saucers. Then she spoiled my fun by taking the kid's hand and shaking it solemnly. He squirmed and I let him down. The minute his feet touched the ground he scampered away, shouting about how he'd "touched the princess' hand!"

This, of course, left me awkwardly faced with the princess for myself. "So you're really a princess?"

"Uh-huh," she admitted, looking a bit lost. "Er, you and your sister... are getting on okay?"

"...mostly," I lied.

Elyon turned her face away. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry about what? I haven't seen you since that thing with the painting."

"..."

I crossed my arms. "Fine, keep your secret. Just tell me this: were you joking about casting that spell?"

The other girl looked shocked. "Oh, no! I promise, you'll be fine. I don't know exactly how long it'll take though, so don't experiment and have the Keeper try to take back her magic or anything like that."

"I may have been born last month, but I'm not that dumb." I'd been waiting a while to use that line.

Elyon flushed. "Sorry."

"Anyway, that spell's probably the second nicest thing anyone's ever done for me. I'll forgive you practically anything for the sake of that." I gave her a hug (partly because she looked like she needed one and partly because if I didn't play nice with the princess I wasn't sure the rebels wouldn't do something nasty) and she returned it. "So did you get to talk to Cornelia?"

"She did," Cornelia confirmed, pushing her own way through the crowd. Well I say pushing, it was more that the crowd instinctively made way for her.

"And...?"

"We're still friends."

Elyon brightened as if this solved everything. Well maybe it did for them but there were a few other issues that might need to be dealt with. You know, Cedric. Phobos. All of Metamoor. Little things like that. "Good. So... what now?"

"Give us the _rebels_!" roared an angry voice.

The three of us, having been focused on our conversation, all practically jumped out of our skins.

The speaker was at the head of a group that were alike in only three respects that I could see: they were armed, wearing blue uniforms and had orangy scales. "Those who side with them will suffer the consequences!"

"Can't anyone around here speak without exclaimation marks?" I whined. It had been a long day, I think I was entitled.

Caleb stepped forwards, producing a sword from somewhere inside his coat. "Bow down to your Queen!" he shouted, pointing back at Elyon.

Evidently no one could.

"Get them!" the leader shouted and his men - soldiers I guessed - ran forwards. Some of the rebels, apparently no longer afraid now that they had a princess on their side, also produced weapons and ran forwards to block them from our little group. With others - less bold rebels or simple bystanders who had been drawn to the commotion - trying to get away, the streets around the portal almost instantly reduced themselves to chaos.

"Go and find shelter," Caleb called as he took the lead.

Cornelia had her own idea and the ground began to shake as she called upon her magic. "You can't do this alone!" Suddenly I had an idea of what might have called the palace to collapse, although how that had led to a portal opening was beyond me.

Two rebels jostled me and I was swept away from my companions. No one intended to collide with me, but with the soldiers pushing into the crowd and my being below the eye line of most of the participants of what I could only call a battle, it was almost unavoidable. I did my best to find my way back to Vathek - or at least to Elyon - but when I reached the portal, one of the few places that everyone else was trying to give at least a little space, I couldn't see either of them.

I did hear something interesting though.

"I'm not gonna like, this time the Heart of Kandrakar's made the trip awfully uncomfortable."

That sounded like Irma and for once I was glad to hear her voice.

"Look on the bright side, at least we've arrived now."

And Taranee! A bolt of silvery magic streaked through the air and from the gasp of surprise they couldn't be that far away. I ran to the edge of the pit and dropped to my hands and knees, looking down at them. Sure enough four Guardians were scrambling up out of the portal. "Girls, this way!"

Hay Lin flew up into the air over the portal and then came down to hug me, with the others not so far behind - only limited by not being airborne like her. "You're okay!"

I'd barely got loose of her when Will dragged me into an even more crushing hug. "What did you think you were doing, coming here?" she demanded. "You could have been killed!"

"I was thinking that someone needed to watch Cornelia's back, since none of you would."

Will released me and looked around. "And where is she?"

I hung my head. "We got separated."

'Great job then.' Will didn't actually say the sarcastic words but we both knew that she was thinking them.

"I see her!" Hay Lin called, having taken to the air once more. She directed powerful gust of wind down into the mob, aiming at someone I couldn't see. I missed sitting on Vathek - it gave a much needed perspective.

Will looked in that direction. "Then let's reunite the Guardians. We'll keep you safe, sis'." She extended the Heart of Kandrakar and called out "Earth!" A streamer of green energy swept out from her and Cornelia burst out of the crowd, her magic almost visible as she commanded the ground to dash away the soldiers menacing her and the rebels around her.

Irma grinned at Taranee. "Let's work together!"

The two Guardians clasped hands and then unleashed their power together on one group of soldiers. "An attack today; blows the enemy away!" called out the Water Guardian as the resultant blast of steam hurled the soldiers from their feet and blanketed the area with fog.

Scattered and unable to co-ordinate their efforts, the guards disappeared amid into the far more numerous crowd of the rebels.

"That attack was almost as fierce as your rhyme!" Hay Lin declared as she swooped past. "Wow! I see Elyon!"

"What!" Most of the Guardians whirled, readying themselves to defend against an attack. Instead they - like myself - saw Elyon scrambling beneath the blades of a rebel and a soldier in order to pull the young lizardfolk from earlier out of danger.

"Is that the same girl that locked me away in tower for weeks?" exclaimed Taranee.

"What are you just standing there for?" I demanded and ran forwards in Elyon's direction, ignoring Will's shout to come back.

There were feet chasing after me but I had been moving at an angle to come in from behind the soldier and he hadn't spotted me. The rebel had and he struck fiercely as I ducked down behind the soldier's knees. The blue-uniformed swordsman tried to step back and instead tumbled over me, dropping his sword.

Without the press of combat, the rebel fighter realised who he had been about to stand on and stopped fighting to help Elyon and her charge up.

"Why you!" shouted the soldier, scrabbling for his sword.

"I wouldn't suggest you do that," Taranee told him, putting one foot onto his chest and pushing him down.

The soldier didn't hesitate to close his hand around the hilt but he released it a moment later with a cry of pain. As I stood up I realised that the metal parts of the weapon were almost glowing with heat.

"Don't you know better than to try to hold a hot iron?" the Fire Guardian chided. "Now you can't hold a weapon in that hand until it heals. Maybe you should give up on fighting for Phobos!"

With a scream the soldier turned and fled.

"Thank you," Elyon exclaimed and then she paled as she saw which of the Guardians had assisted us. "Ah, Taranee..."

"I don't have a thing to say to you," the dreadlocked girl told her coldly.

The little blonde gave me an appealing look and I shrugged. "All you did to me was give me a scare and trap me somewhere for a little while. Taranee..."

The princess seemed to cringe in on herself. "I understand."

It seemed even the fiery Taranee wasn't immune to that pathetic look though - or perhaps it was the hateful glare she got from the little kid or the questioning look from the rebel fighter. "Maybe later," she allowed reluctantly. "Right now we have other things to do."

"You're not wrong there."

Honestly though, soldiers around us were already for the most part on the run. They'd looked fearsome enough as a group but once they were scattered the greater numbers of the rebels had swarmed over them one at a time. The ones that hadn't... well, I saw that at least two of them were lying on the cobbled streets and showed no sign of moving. There were rebels down as well although most at least seemed only injured.

"I think the fight's over," Taranee told me.

I pointed at the fallen soldiers. "Is the killing over?"

She shook her head. "You really are like Will, sometimes."

"Let me help," Elyon offered. She pressed her hands together and then gestured upwards. With a sigh a tall platform - a podium, Taranee later called it - shimmered into existence in front of us, complete with stairs up to the top so that we would be able to get up and look over the packed streets.

I scrambled up the steps, Elyon and Taranee following me. From above I could see further and the same story was being played out: the few soldiers remaining were the stubborn ones who'd managed to get themselves up against a wall or some other barrier that prevented them from being overwhelmed from behind. Even they were now being hard pressed - pelted with cobblestones and by gusts of air and waves of water from Irma and Hay Lin. As I watched, Cornelia yanked down part of a wall, half-burying a soldier beneath the rubble.

"Enough!" called out Elyon from beside me.

Heads turned below, people looking up at us.

"The battle is won!" I shouted. "Let the soldiers go, to spread the word."

They hesitated but Elyon pushed aside her dull cloak, revealing the pale dress she wore beneath it. "Do as my friend says!" she ordered. "There has been enough bloodshed."

That swayed them and cheers burst out from the crowd as they backed up and opened space for the remaining soldiers to retreat. A few of the blue-clad Metamoorians stopped to help up fallen soldiers and carry them away but most simply fled for their lives.

A cheer went up from the rebels. "We defeated them!" called one.

He was joined by other glad calls: "Our first victory!" "The first of many!" "The princess gave us strength!"

"H-hold on!" Elyon stammered as everyone turned to look at her after that statement. She scrambled down from platform but before she could reach the ground, hands lifted her up and she was raised up above the crowd by her new followers and supporters. "I'm not sure if..."

"Enjoy the moment," I advised her before I turned to use the stairs myself. Then I felt Taranee's hands against my back for a moment. "What -?"

"You too," she said with a chuckle and pushed me firmly off the podium.

I almost screamed but strong hands caught me and placed me onto a familiar shoulder. "Vathek!?"

The towering warrior gave me a sheepish look. "Maybe you should take your own advice."

"What do you mean?"

"'Enjoy the moment'," he repeated my words from a moment ago. "Three cheers for Elyon, the Light of Meridian!"

Cheers rang out and I saw Elyon blushing furiously at the naked adoration she was receiving. "Please, don't cheer me," she begged. "I've done nothing to deserve it. Cheer for yourselves, or for Caleb and my friends."

That didn't noticeably dissuade them, although it did add Caleb's name and 'The Guardians' to the names being shouted admiringly.

"They're forgetting someone," rumbled Vathek.

I twisted around to look down at him. "Who?"

"You, silly," Cornelia told me. I hadn't seen her approaching us.

"It's kind of hard for them to cheer for someone with no name," I pointed out cheerfully. Given how Elyon was squirming in embarassment at being the centre of attention, I was quite happy to avoid the same fate.

Cornelia simply smiled knowingly. "Oh well we can't have that. It just so happens that I have the perfect name for you."

"What! But you can't pick my name!"

"Do you think any of us chose our names?" she asked me. "Our families gave us our names, and you've had plenty of time to think of one for yourself."

"Yes, but..."

Taranee looked down at Cornelia and I pouted as I realised that the Fire Guardian was using her telepathy to speak to the blonde. "You're right, Cornelia. That _is_ the perfect name for her."

"What are you three talking about?" asked Will as the other Guardians converged on our position.

Cornelia pointed up at me. "Will, I'd like to introduce you to your sister."

"We _have_ met, Cornelia."

"But you've never been _introduced_," she said with a smile. "Will, meet your sister: Hope Vandom."

I stared dumbfounded down at them. "Hope?"

"It's a good name," Vathek rumbled. "You do seem to bring it with you."

Will nodded decisively. "You're right." She gestured for him to put me down.

"I think I prefer it here," I said warily.

"Whoa, you don't think she means her and Vathek..." Irma murmured to Hay Lin, perhaps louder than she intended.

The smallest of the Guardians shook her head, setting her long pony-tails flicking back and forth. "I think she, Hope, might want to stay here."

Will looked down at the floor. "Please?"

Vathek must have sensed my doubts for he reached up and patted my legs with one of huge hands. "Family can be difficult, but they're usually worth it," he advised and dropped to one knee so that I was closer to the ground.

I slid down - my feet were still some way from the ground and Will stepped forward and caught me around the waist, helping me the rest of the way down. She didn't let go of me, instead pulling me close. "Hello Hope. I'm Will. I hope we can be friends as well as sisters."

"...I'm kind of still learning about friends," I admitted. "And sisters."

Will nodded sympathetically. "Me too. Maybe we can learn together?"

Naturally the fact we were having a moment to ourselves did nothing to stop the rest of the world - this world - from moving on. And it wasn't something insensitive from Irma either. It was someone even more annoying: Cedric.

"Where are you, Your Majesty?" he called out.

I have to give him credit. He was standing there in front of a victorious rebel army - a small one perhaps, but still vastly outnumbering the tiny number of escorts who were with him. It was clear he was not there for violence though. There was no evidence of his giant snakeman persona visible for he was as human in form as he had been in the bookstore and he wore a long turquoise robe not so very different in style from the dress worn by Elyon, along with a long and heavily decorated ceremonial vest and epaulets.

"What is he _doing_?"

"If he fights here, he loses," Taranee realised. "Elyon would never forgive him for persecuting these people."

Faced not with violence but with courtesy, the rebels lowered Elyon to the ground like chastened children.

Cedric dropped deferentially to one knee. "We've been looking for you for hours," he declared - implicitly dismissing the battle which had just been fought as unworthy of mention. "Your brother is waiting for you at the palace."

Cornelia pushed her way through the crowd to stand by Elyon, the rest of us not far behind.

"Your coronation is near, Elyon," he continued, ignoring us. "And the prince wants to celebrate the occasion properly."

Elyon straightened with sudden confidence. "Yes, I see. Let's go."

We all blinked at the sudden reversal. I'm sure at least half of us braced ourselves to suddenly face her hostility. Vathek had counselled Cornelia and I of how deeply Cedric's influence ran with Elyon.

"Are you serious!?" Cornelia exclaimed out loud.

When Elyon turned to us, however, she was smiling. She took her friend's hands. "Your destiny is on Earth and to guard the veil. Mine is here, to care for my people."

It was entirely clear from Cornelia's sidelong look at Cedric where her concerns lay. "You don't know what you're about to face," she warned.

Elyon simply stepped forwards and threw her arms around the blonde. "Everything will be alright, Cornelia. I will never forget our friendship." They clung to each other for a moment before stepping back.

"Good luck," I mouthed to Elyon, past Cornelia's shoulder. "And be careful."

That earned me a nod of acknowledgement from her before she walked, tall and proud towards Cedric. The man and his elite soldiers fell in behind her, whether by plan or simply wrong-footed I couldn't tell.

W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.

Cornelia was talking to Caleb, with an eager and almost discreet audience in the form of Irma, Hay Lin and Taranee.

Will and I had other things to talk about.

"Are you coming home with us?" she asked awkwardly. "I'm sure Vathek would look after you if you stayed."

I had to admit it was tempting in some ways. Although, having made use of a Metamoorian toilet, not in others. There would be freedom here. Danger, yes. But it wasn't as if my life in Heatherfield was all that safe. "I'd miss you. And Mom."

"She'd miss you too. You're pretty much the daughter she wants, you know."

"What!?"

Will folded her arms. "You're brighter than I am. I could never have written a report like you did. You do all your chores, you're tidy..."

"I'm easily bored." I shoved my hands into my jacket pockets. "And you're the one that she loves."

My sister shook her head. "That's just because she hasn't got to know you."

"Will she ever?"

"I hope so," she told me. "When this is over. Maybe Miss Rudolph can help us get papers for you."

I wrapped my arms around myself. "She'll probably be furious with me. With us, I suppose."

"I know." Will hung her head. "But please, come back with us, give her a chance. Give _me_ a chance. I shouldn't have gone off swimming like that, when you were at school. I was just so mad at Mom about the swimming team and Elyon tricked me."

"Elyon? What did she have to do with it?" I asked in surprise. "I thought Vera was the one who invited you out."

"There wasn't really a Vera at all - it was all Elyon in disguise. She was encouraging me just to get me away from everyone else. She even broke my phone so I didn't know you were trying to get to me. If Irma hadn't turned up at the pool, she'd have drowned me!"

I covered my mouth in shock. Drowning, the way I almost had when I came here. Had Elyon really tried to do that? "That's what she meant! She apologised earlier for something but didn't say what for."

"Well it'd have been nice if she'd apologised to me! Or to Taranee!"

"Did she get the chance?" I rubbed at my face. "Oh I don't know. She's done all this but whenever I've been around she's been mostly... well, she knocked me out and imprisoned me, but she's never seemed to actually want to _hurt_ anyone."

Will sighed. "I suppose she might have wanted to capture me, not kill me. She'd conjured up a huge water snake. I couldn't even get loose to transform."

"I was afraid that something like that had happened - that Cedric had you locked up somewhere or... or..."

Will hugged me again. "I wish I could promise you that it was all going to be okay, but we know so little about this..."

"Well we know more now."

There was a _squeal_ from Hay Lin that forced us to pay attention to something beyond the two of us.

"And here I was thinking Cornelia was cold and rational," Taranee gasped.

"But she's the exact opposite!" Hay Lin declared, pressing her clasped hands against one cheek as she watched Caleb give Cornelia a silvery flower. "Ah, looooove!"

"Well... he is a pretty cool guy."

"Oh?" Irma asked eagerly. "Spill the gossip! Does Cornelia have a rival?"

"Get real," I told her. "You think I'd try getting between these two? Cornelia would take my arm off and Caleb probably wouldn't even notice me. Mind you, if they weren't attached..." I paused and then nudged Will with one elbow. "...no, never mind, that'd mean leaving Matt to you. Couldn't do that to the poor boy."

She hung her head. "I think he's got a girlfriend already."

"What!?" explained Irma. "No way. I've not heard anything about that."

"She's older. Way older, with like a car and stuff."

I rolled my eyes. "All she did was ask you to give him a note for her."

"You didn't see the note!" she insisted. "They've probably been engaged for years or something like that!"

I wasn't in the mood for more drama so I changed the subject. "Here comes Cornelia."

There was something very melancholy about the way that Caleb stood alone and watched her walk away from him and towards us. I'd seen boys at school watch Cornelia walk away before, and that was when she appeared much younger and was certainly much more conservatively dressed. This was different though. It was almost painful to watch.

"Ehm... we can go now," Cornelia said hesitantly as she reached us, not meeting anyone's eyes.

"But surely we should get some more information," Taranee disagreed.

"I think you should tell us more about your friend there," added Will with a teasing note in her voice.


	5. Chapter 5

Will was having breakfast two days after New Year's Day when her phone buzzed. Things had been going better - not perfectly, but better - since our return from Meridian. Mom's birthday hadn't gone very well since it coincided with Irma getting backstage passes for a concert that weekend. Now I like listening to Karmilla as much as the next girl (as long as the next girl is Will) but I was a bit vague on how listening to them on stage is superior to the CD player.

The usual diplomatic exchange of views between Will and Mom had taken place, ending up with Mom cancelling the planned mother-daughter trip to Roseville (which sounded really interesting, except that there was zero chance I'd be able to pretend sufficient familiarity with it) and she had also forbidden Will from going to the concert.

I will admit that I had been a little out of line telling Will that I'd rather stay home and listen to her and Mom having another argument, but she _had_ just accused me of planning to sneak out and go with the girls in her place, something that would be entirely too risky since the passes were courtesy of Irma's dad and he might well insist on dropping me off here afterwards, which would look kind of suspicious if Mom spotted him.

And then Mom had caught me in the bathroom that morning, forcing Will to spend half the day hiding in the loft while I had an excruciating awkward lunch. Mom was still fuming when I had to cover for Will sneaking out fight off _another_ Metamoorian invasion. Doesn't Cedric ever have a _new_ idea? And coincidentally the invasion was _at_ the concert.

Where was I? Oh yes, the phone.

"Cornelia?" I greeted her, recognising the caller ID.

"Will?" she asked.

"Hope. What's up this early in the morning?" I asked, keeping my voice down. She and Will had spoken just the last night, having dinner with the other girls at Irma's.

"I can't get in touch with the others." I could hear birds from the other end of the phone - she must have been calling from the balcony of her apartment.

"Hay Lin is talking to Irma and Taranee is talking to a certain Nigel."

"And how would you know that?"

"That wasn't me, it was Will's phone!" One of Will's powers was to awaken electrical appliances to some degree of intelligence. She could talk to them and get some measure of co-operation. It made me uncomfortable to be honest, particularly since I'd started to hear them too. The other Guardians could hear them, but I'd assumed it was because they were magical whereas Mom couldn't because she wasn't. If I could hear them...

I wasn't sure what it meant. Wasn't Elyon's spell supposed to make me _less_ magical, not more?

"I heard it through the phone line grapevine, that's all," the phone added in explanation.

"Well, did Will tell you about the Interpol agents we met at Irma's house?" asked Cornelia.

"We didn't get a chance to talk yesterday and she only just woke up. What's Interpol?"

"The international police!" Cornelia hissed. "They're investigating Elyon's disappearance and they found out that her family's paperwork was falsified!"

"Uh-oh." That didn't sound good. If nothing else it meant that getting Miss Rudolph to set up false paperwork for me might not work, but if the police were poking around then who knew what else they might find out. "What else can go wrong?"

"They've been parked outside for hours! I must have made them suspicious last night."

"What for? They can't think that you had anything to do with Elyon disappearing!"

"I don't know! But the minute I step outside I bet they'll follow me. And we're supposed to go to Elyon's house today, to close down the portal in the cellar in case they manage to find it!"

I rubbed my head. "I guess that would look pretty suspicious. Okay, I'll tell Will and we'll see if we can figure something out." There were footsteps outside and I pressed myself against the wall behind the door, wriggling behind the free-standing full-length mirror that occupied that corner of the room. "Got to go!" Stabbing the end call button I held my breath as the door opened.

Fortunately, it was only Will. "Mom's getting dressed," she said quietly after switching on her CD player to mask the sound of our conversation. "You should be clear to get some breakfast soon."

"Thanks." I held out the cell phone. "Cornelia rang. Apparently Interpol are stalking her."

"Oh _great_. At least they're not watching us here. If they were they might notice you here."

We exchanged glances and then I pressed myself back into the corner while Will went to the window. "Okay, I think it's safe," she allowed after a moment and then gulped. "Wait, there's a suspicious looking guy down there. He's all covered up in a coat and hat."

"Well it is pretty cold out..."

Will squeaked and backed up sharply. "He just looked right up at the window! He's got to be another of the Interpol agents!"

I felt light-headed myself. What would happen if they caught me? Would I put in one of those rooms with the bright lights that make you confess to everything? "I'm gonna hide until he's gone! Is there any food that Mom wouldn't miss?"

"Cookies and fruit, probably." Will scratched her head. "She's dropping hints I should start thinking about cleaning up a bit, so I might be able to make a few things disappear for you. Do you want anything warm to wear up there?"

"I'll probably just curl up in my sleeping bag." That was a christmas gift from Cornelia - a very warm camping sleeping bag that kept me toasty warm even on the coldest nights. All the girls had been very generous at Christmas, something that made me feel a little guilty. After all, it wasn't as if I'd been able to get any of _them_ presents.

(I'd tried drawing pictures since I figured that at least wouldn't mean spending money that Will was already sharing with me. The results hadn't been very impressive - and I don't just mean compared to Hay Lin, I mean compared to Irma's attempts at art.)

"Will!" Mom called through the door, "Could you do a little tidying up before you go out with your friends today?"

I ducked for cover again, in case she came in. Yikes, never mind Interpol! What if she'd heard me? I might want her to know eventually, but Will and I agreed it would take a lot of careful explanation or she'd blow up on us.

"Sure thing Mom!"

"And would you might turning the music down a little bit? At least until I've left the apartment? I can't hear the news."

"Sorry!" Will looked at me with one finger pressed against her lips as she adjusted the volume on the CD player.

After moment we heard Mom's footsteps moving away.

"Whew!" we mouthed at each other in unison and Will giggled. "I'll go get the laundry basket," she decided, looking at the clothes that had been kicked into corners of the room over the last couple of days. "Maybe I can sneak some fruit in with it, to tide you over."

"That'd be nice." I picked up a couple of sweaters that had been hung over the mirror for convenience and dropped them on top of yesterday's jeans before taking cover again as she went out the door.

Once the door was closed I scrambled up on the furniture to get up to the hatch in the ceiling. It wasn't particularly tricky - but Will's desk had developed a worrying creak after the first few dozen times I stood on it to reach and moving quietly was kind of important.

I was about halfway up the rope when its tendency to turn as I climbed brought the window into my line of sight.

The window and the rather startled face looking right at me through it.

While I was climbing a rope, which meant that my nightshirt (Will had declared two sets of pyjamas to be mine but despite the source, I preferred the long T-shirts that Irma had given me for Christmas) was riding up.

Oh come on! You'd have slipped too!

"Wh-" Thump. "Ow!"

Despite my best efforts I didn't get my feet under me onto the desk which meant that I landed on the floor. Fortunately there was a rug to soften the landing and even more fortunately I did manage to get my arms up to take the brunt instead of my chin.

"Honey?" "Hope!" Two concerned parties entered the room from different directions and then saw each other.

"I didn't mean to startle you," a mortified looking Vathek (Oh thank heavens it was only him at the window, I thought) protested. "Are you -"

"Aaaah!" Mom recovered from her shock and grabbed me by the shoulders, dragging me away from him.

There was a shout of "Mom!" and Will burst into the passage, the Heart of Kandrakar already in her hand.

"Will?" Mom looked down at me, then up at Will. "And Will? What is going _on_!?" She was still towing me away from the bedroom and I got a first hand view of Vathek sticking his head cautiously around the doorframe, evidently mystified by what was going on.

Will's view must have not been as good - or less charitably, she may have still been thinking of Vathek as Cedric's henchman. Whatever her reason, she shouted "Guardians unite!" and pink light filled the corridor.

"Wait...!" I managed to call out before Will pushed past us in full Guardian mode. "It's just..."

"Vathek!?" Will exclaimed at the top of her voice. "What are you doing here?"

"What did _you_ just do!?" Mom demanded of her and then looked at Vathek. "And what were _you_ doing in my daughter's _bedroom_?"

Honestly I felt more sympathy for Vathek at this moment, although given it was his fault I was probably going to be bruised from wrist to elbow for the next few days, that wasn't saying much. "Uh..."

They all looked at me.

"Oops?"

Will slapped her forehead and Mom turned me around firmly so she could look me in the face. "'Oops'? Wilhemina Vandom, what is going on here? Why is a large blue man in your room, and who is this!?" She pointed at Will.

I hung my head. "Um. That's Will."

Mom zeroed in on the most vital point immediately. "Will?"

She nodded guiltily.

"What in the world are you wearing? Is that padded?"

Will turned bright red and crossed her arms across her chest.

It took Will transforming back into herself, and then into a Guardian again, before Mom relaxed enough to let go of me. Mind you, her next words were: "I don't believe this." She leant against the wall. We hadn't even got to the explanations yet! So much for breaking this to her gently. Then she looked down at me with a perplexed expression. "If you're not Will then who are you?"

"...Hope."

"That's a lovely name, but do your parents know that you're sleeping over here? Because _I_ would have appreciated knowing." She reached over and brushed my hair back from my face. "It's uncanny how much you look like Will."

"She doesn't have anywhere else," Will told her while I looked for words. "Look, can we talk about this in a minute? Vathek, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in Meridian?"

The blue-skinned giant dropped to one knee. "I bring a plea for help, Guardian. From Elyon!"

"Elyon?" asked Mom suspiciously. She darted into the kitchen and came back with a milk carton. "This girl?" she asked, pointing at the picture on the side. It was captioned: 'Elyon Brown - Missing'.

Vathek nodded solemnly. "Indeed, although I don't understand why her name is on that container."

"Because she's missing!" Mom put her hands on her hips. "Did you aliens abduct her? Her family must be frantic!"

"But her family is also in Meridian," he explained.

"It's a long story, Mom." Will looked over at me. "Another long story."

"Well you're not going anywhere until I hear those stories. Is this some sort of ungerground railroad for runaways that you've got mixed up in?"

"But...!"

"I've got a _good mind_ to call the police _right now_."

I raised my hand. "May I at least get dressed? Please!"

She raised a sceptical eyebrow. "I'm not letting any of you out of my sight until I have some answers."

"Don't you have to go to work?" Will asked hopefully.

Mom's eyes narrowed. "I'll call in. Fine, the two of you can get dressed. _You_ -" she pointed at Vathek, "- come with me. No childish games or I'll call the police right after I call work."

Vathek walked after her into the lounge with the sort of serene confidence that could only indicate he had no idea how much trouble we were all in.

Will grabbed for the nearest clothes, laundry heap or not - her attention was more on getting onto her phone to warn the others that we had been outed. Chances were that if Mom learned of the other Guardians - and it wouldn't take much now - that she'd contact their parents.

For my part I hesitated in front of the wardrobe and then pulled out a plastic carrier bag from the back. For whatever reason, I had set aside the clothes that were created with me all those weeks ago and now I dressed in them. If she forced me to leave I wouldn't be taking away anything of Will's... and they were warm and weatherproof. That might be important.

"Cornelia, there's no _time_," Will hissed into the phone. "You'll have to let the others know. We might..." She paused and gulped. "We might need to go to Metamoor and join Caleb's rebels until things calm down!" She had to take the phone away from her ear to protect her from the anguished squeal from the other end. "I don't like it either, but I don't see much choice!"

"You'd actually do that?" I asked as she thumbed the button to end the call. I could barely believe my ears.

Will's eyes were watering. "I hope it doesn't come to that. Come on, who knows what Mom has dragged out of Vathek by now!" She picked up Mr. Huggles - her dormouse, she'd picked a name at last - for moral reinforcement.

Mom fixed us with a suspicious look as we entered the lounge. "I think I said no games, Will. Not making yourselves up to look like each other more."

Will shoved her fists into her pockets and perched on the couch, Mr. Huggles scrambling up to cling to her shoulder. "Great. You're just looking for things to punish us for!"

"Don't speak to me like that! If you can't have an adult conversation, we can skip right to the punishments. Do you want that?"

Will scowled and lowered her head. "No," she muttered.

"M- uh, Mrs. Vandom, we're not disguising our looks. We really do look... well, identical," I explained.

Mom scowled suspiciously. "Because you're... an 'astral drop'? Whatever that is." She hesitated. "You are Hope, aren't you? You're not my daughter pretending?"

I swallowed. That brought back a hollow feeling I thought I wouldn't face again.

Will slammed her fist down on the arm of the couch. "Mom, she's my _sister_!"

"I think I'd have noticed giving birth a second time, or if not, then some time in the next thirteen years!"

"You didn't notice in the last month!" protested Will.

"This has been going on that long? Just what is this about Will!?"

"_Stop it_!" I shouted and buried my face in my hands. "Just stop it! Can't you _not_ fight for once!"

Will touched my shoulder for a moment. "Vathek. What is Elyon asking for?"

"It is her parents," he explained awkwardly. "Her foster parents, who raised her here."

"I thought she blamed them for taking her away from Metamoor," I asked, not raising my head.

"I believe that she has forgiven them. She has seen how her brother imprisoned them." Vathek scowled deeply. "How he locks away anyone who thinks differently from him."

"Then why doesn't she ask Phobos to release them? Or her precious Cedric?"

The scowl slipped away. "Maybe she has. Maybe she no longer believes them as she once did. There is hope that he will not be able to deceive her any longer." He placed one hand on my head, ruffling my hair lightly at one word in his remarks. I'll leave you to guess which one. "I cannot break into the prison, Keeper of the Heart. If I could, many of my own friends would not suffer there. I have advised her to do as I do: to believe in the Guardians of the Veil."

"What!? Absolutely not!"

We all backed up at Mom's voice. "Mom!"

"You are _not_ recruiting my little girl for some cockanamie scheme to break a couple of people out of a prison in some magical kingdom somewhere." She folded her arms. "And that's final."

"Mom!" Will bolted to her feet, the dormouse having to cling tight to avoid being flung away from her. "These people could be in real danger! You don't know what Phobos is like!"

"That's all the more reason that _you_ shouldn't be involved!"

"I can do this!" I could practically feel the pulse in the air as the Heart of Kandrakar slipped into her hand.

"No you can _not_!" Mom declared with a ring of finality.

Will's response was even more final.

"Will!" I yelled as a flash of pink light engulfed us all. "Don't -" The light faded, revealing a stark windowless room with stairs leading up to a door set high in the wall. Since there wasn't a couch for me to sit on, I proceeded to fall to the floor. "Oh!"

There were an assortment of other cries of surprise and I realised that it wasn't just Will, Vathek and myself who had suddenly arrived. Or even just adding Mr. Huggles to that list.

"What _happened_!" exclaimed Cornelia. "Will!?"

"Wow, you just, like, teleported us all!"

Irma, dressed only in a bath towel, didn't look quite as impressed. "Yay."

"Will, are you crazy?" demanded Taranee. "What if someone saw us vanish?"

"Someone did," I grumbled. "That might not have been the best solution, Will."

"If I gave her another minute she'd have been trying to take the Heart away _from me_!"

"What are you talking about?"

Will looked over at Cornelia. "You didn't tell them?"

"She was still on the phone," the blonde explained, pointing at the handset that Taranee was still hanging onto.

"Getting on well with Nigel?" Irma asked slyly.

"I guess she didn't get the news either?" I asked.

"Oh, I did," she assured us. "But if this is my last chance of a decent bath, I wasn't going to miss it. I doubt they have decent plumbing in Meridian."

"What news?"

"Mom caught Vathek sneaking in to give me a message," Will explained. "Worse, she caught Hope as well."

"Oh man!" Taranee groaned. "How could this get any worse?"

Will and I exchanged looks. "Um..."

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"I agree we don't have much choice about going to Meridian now," Irma agreed, "But I don't trust Vathek. What if he went back to serving Cedric?" The five of them had transformed into their Guardian forms, which at least meant Irma was more comfortably dressed.

Hay Lin nodded. "Irma's right. This could be a trap. Why won't you tell us where you found the portal that you came in through?"

"I don't know the way," he protested. "Your city is so strange, I was lucky I even found one of your homes."

"It can be a bit confusing," I agreed.

"Yeah, right." Irma glanced around the group. "What do you think, Corny?"

Cornelia gestured sharply and a wall began to spring up across the basement, cutting the more mundane parts of it off from the much larger space containing the portal and - at the moment - the eight of us. "I think we're all dressed up and the portal's open. If there's any truth to what you're saying, Vathek, we have to get moving. Now."

"Just one more thing." I gave Will a quick hug and then scrambled across the still forming wall. "I'll try to explain things to Mom."

"Hope!" she called out and Cornelia shifted her wall building efforts to leave a space for me to talk to me through. "You can't stay either! She'll hand you over to the police or something!"

"I'll try to talk her out of that. But right now for all she knows you've run off and won't ever come back. It's not fair to her to leave her thinking that."

Will frowned. "Maybe she's right. She -"

"She's _afraid_, Will. Afraid you'll be hurt. Afraid of losing you. Okay, shouting wasn't the smartest thing she could have done, but you know she's just as hotheaded as you are."

"Who are you calling a hothead?" she snapped and then flushed.

I spread my hands. "Let's face it, I'm a little less likely to start shouting back. That might give me a slightly better chance of persuading her."

"Mom isn't easy to persuade, unless you're Collins." Will scowled as she said the name and I could hardly blame him. He'd been sitting next to Mom at the school play just before Christmas, their relationship still going strong. "Still, if you turn on the waterworks you might have a chance. SHe almost melted when you teared up earlier."

Irma nodded wisely. "You're right. Hope's adorable when she's being a cry baby. Those big sad eyes are a devestating weapon."

"Shut up!" I don't cry that often. And it's not as if I don't have reason sometimes. "Look, even if you decide to stay there until Phobos was dealt with, you're not really planning on staying there forever, are you?"

Will didn't answer that for a moment.

"Setting aside the issues of Matt and Nigel -"

Taranee wrapped her arms around herself and Will looked wistful but said nothing.

"- I have one more compelling arguement. Remember what Irma said about plumbing? Vathek, does Meridian have flush toilets?"

He frowned. "I know what a toilet is, but how would you make one flush?"

The Guardians had vaguely horrified looks on their faces. "Good point," Hay Lin squeaked.

"Just promise me you have a plan," Cornelia pleaded. "My mom isn't going to like this."

"I have a plan," I lied, and just like that an idea popped into my head. "I'm going to go to see Miss Rudolph first. She probably knows more about this than any of us do anyway." I wondered if that was how Will came up with ideas sometimes.

"Ooh! Good idea," Irma agreed quickly. "Between you crying and Miss Rudolph's cookies, Mrs Vandom will be putty in your hands."

"Irma, do you _want_ me to tell your dad that you ran away to join the circus as a performing monkey?"

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Want to know how well my masterful plan got before it was derailed?

Halfway to the gate out of the Brown's garden, that's how far I'd got when an official looking car pulled up and two people jumped out. The driver was a tall blond man and his companion was a smaller woman whose face was dominated by a pair of glasses even larger than Taranee's. Both wore long blue coats and from the way that they looked at me, I was obviously not who they were expecting - or perhaps hoping - to see here.

"Miss Vandom," the man started only to be elbowed by the woman.

"Will," she greeted me carefully. "It's good to see you again."

I waved my hand casually, wondering who these people were. Not teachers, not family... I walked towards the gate - there was no point doing anything suspicious like running away right now. For one thing, they were blocking the way out and I had no idea if there was a back gate or note. Bluff?

No, I decided. Not the best idea. They obviously had some expectations of Will and I'd probably be caught out quickly.

I'd come clean to Mom, at least partially. Maybe it was better to keep things simple.

"Sorry, you have the wrong girl," I replied once I was in easier earshot. "I'm guessing you think I'm Will Vandom?"

"You're not her?"

"An identical twin perhaps?" the man said sceptically.

I adopted a put-upon face and stopped outside of easy grabbing range. "Yeah, like I've never heard that before. I wouldn't mind if we were, honestly, but Mrs. Vandom says she'd remember having had twins so I don't suppose we are. And, uh, you would be?"

"I'm agent Maria Medina, from Interpol," the woman introduced herself. "And this is my partner, Joel McTiennan."

"International police?" I gave her a wide-eyed look. "Wow. How does Will know you?"

"We met last night, at the Lairs, just to ask a few questions about Elyon's disappearance. Now, since we've introduced ourselves... are you going to do the same?"

"I'm Hope." I stepped forward guilelessly and shook hands with them both. "So do you have any idea where Elyon might be? We're all worried about her." The second part was true at least.

"If we did, we'd have found her by now," Joel declared bluntly. "So what were you doing here?"

"Seeing if she's come back." I looked down at my sneakers for a moment, thinking of a plausible reason. "We've got a kind of pact. Someone checks every day and when they're back we let Cornelia know so she can shout at Elyon for scaring us all like this."

"Cornelia does the shouting does she?" asked Maria.

I spread my hands. "Girl's got a talent."

"I bet she does. And do you know anything about them vanishing that you're not sharing?" Joel pushed the gate sharply open and then headed up the path with quick, long strides. His coat billowed dramatically behind him as he called: "I'll see if they're inside!"

"What?" Well it wasn't a problem if he looked around, I had faith in Cornelia's wall as a defense for the portal.

Warm fingers closed around my wrist and I looked up in surprise to see that Maria had taken hold of me. "Will, whatever you're hiding, you can tell me," she pleaded.

"Uh... haven't we talked about this before? I'm Hope, not Will."

"That's not much of a cover story." She smiled slightly. "You should at least have added a family name."

I'd have folded my arms but that would have been kind of awkward with her holding onto me. "Oh come on. Call Mrs Vandom, she's met me."

Maria gave me a level look. "And I suppose you'll stay right here while I'm using the phone?"

"Look, I'm taking it on trust you're a police officer!"

She humphed. "Alright, I'll make you a deal. I'll call her if you sit in the back seat of the car while I do."

"Deal!"

"_And_ you tell me your family name."

...Oh crab-baskets, as Irma might politely put it.

"Well?"

"That's... kind of complicated. Will says I can use Vandom but I don't think her Mom agrees. I don't _have_ any other family name though."

"Oh come on." Now _she_ looked like she wanted to cross her arms in frustration.

"Look, cross my heart and hope to die," I moved my finger across my chest in a sort of X-shape. "Stick a needle in my eye, I swear if I have ever had another family name I have _no_ idea what it is!"

"That's... not how you cross your heart," she sighed and rubbed her forehead with the heel of her free hand. "Okay, just get in the back."

I had no sooner done so than she closed the door and did something fiddly with the lock of her door that locked both of the back doors. I was torn between surprise that anyone would build that into a car, sadness that there was so little trust in her that she thought it was necessary and irritation that I'd have to get out over the front seats if it came down to it.

Maria pulled out a notebook, leafed through it and then dialled a number that I was pretty sure was our home number. Well, the Vandom home number. I wasn't sure how welcome I'd be there now. Hopefully I could at least get a few things. The sleeping bag would be nice. Van Dahl's picture of me, which was up in my little loft, would be less useful, but meant more to me.

"Mrs. Vandom? This is Maria Medina, I'm with Interpol." Maria paused, listening to the reply. "Yes, it's about your daughter Will. I met her last night at the Lairs." More listening. "Run away, I see. Well I've just run into a girl who looks very much like her, but says she's called Hope."

A moment later Maria's eyebrows climbed up past the rims of her glasses. "Certainly." She reached back, offering me the handset.

I accepted cautiously. "Hello?"

"Is... is Will with you?" Mom asked tentatively.

"I'm sorry," I offered, rather inadequately I felt. "She's very... upset. I think she'll be back."

She hesitated and then, just as I was about to ask if she wanted to speak to Maria again, she asked: "Will you come back?"

I swallowed. "May I?"

She paused. "I want some answers, Hope."

Well I suppose it would have been too much to ask for. "I'll do my best. Assuming Interpol aren't going to lock me away for something or other..." I raised my eyebrows questioningly to Maria, who gestured for me to give her back her phone.

"Hello again..." She listened for a moment. "It's not quite that straightforward, Mrs. Vandom. As far as I can tell she's a runaway -"

"Running away from what?" I muttered rebelliously as she broke off again, and not due to my words.

"That could work, but what if she runs off again? Can you keep her under supervision at all times? ... No, I'm not suggesting putting her in a cell!" She looked up at me, holding the phone away from her ear. "If we take you back to Mrs. Vandom, will you stay with her?"

I hesitated, torn between a desire to say 'Yes, of course, forever if she'll have me!' and a fear of where that could lead. Shouting at me possibly. And now that she knew I wasn't Will, she'd have no reason at all to treat me kindly. I had deceived her, after all.

Maria shook her head and put the phone back. "I don't think -"

"I'll try!" I blurted.

She gave me a thoughtful look and then shrugged slightly. "Well, we can drop her off once my partner's done checking the Brown house. I'll set up a hospital appointment as soon as possible, we need to give her a complete check-up."

"Hospital?" I'd seen hospital shows on television. It looked like any number of awful things could happen there, with doctors always having to work miracles to save people.

Maria looked as if she wanted to laugh. "Okay, I'm not sure how long it'll take us to get to you. In the next hour or so, okay?" She hung up the phone. "I'm sure a tough girl like you isn't scared of hospitals."

I folded my arms and glared. After a minute she did giggle a little. "I bet you're used to getting your way everytime that you pout like that."

I was _not_ pouting. "So you said Joel was your partner. Did you mean work or..." I trailed off teasingly.

She laughed again. "You little minx. The first; and if it was the second too then it wouldn't be any of your business."

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Joel drove fast and jerkily, I found. I wasn't sure exactly why, but I was glad of the seatbelt and gladder when he pulled up outside the apartment block. The lock on the door didn't move though until Maria was out of the car and waiting for me to get out.

"Where are the Browns?" he demanded once I'd pulled the latch of the door and at last it swung open for me.

I huffed. "I don't know." I wished that I did. It had been... well, maybe forty minutes? They'd be on the other side of the portal by now, of course, but how long would it take for the Guardians to reach the prison and what would they have to do there to carry out a rescue? And how much time had actually passed there? The one time I actually went to Metamoor I'd had to correct my watch once we got back because apparently time moved faster there.

"One little girls missing," he grumbled. "Or tw and one that appears out of nowhere. What are you hiding from us?"

"Joel..." Maria's voice held a warning tone.

He turned back to look out the front of the car. "If anything happens to them, it'll be your fault for not helping us."

There didn't really seem to be a good answer to that. It might even be true, although I'm rather at a loss as to what he - or the entirety of Interpol - could have done about the situation and I wasn't about to ask any revealing questions. "Then I shall hope for a good anything, Mr. McTiennan, something I don't mind you blaming me for." I closed the door before he could reply.

Maria gave me a thoughtful look and then took my hand - at least it wasn't snaring me by the wrist this time - and led me to the door. We were barely inside when Mom came down the stairs.

"I saw you get out of the car," she explained and then gave me an awkward look before turning her head towards Maria. "Do you want to come up for a coffee?"

"That'd be lovely, but I'm going to have to turn in a report on this and get everything set up. How about I call you back once I know when the hospital can give Hope a check-up. We can talk then?"

Mom nodded in agreement and then reached out and took my free hand. "Come with me, Hope."

What else could I do but trail after her? I'd never, in my admittedly short experience, seen her like this.

She didn't say anything until we were in the apartment. She let go of my hand and pointed to a chair at the kitchen table. Once I was sat down, she took the opposite chair. "So you're Hope."

I nodded meekly.

After a moment Mom sighed. "I'm not going to hurt you."

How could I tell her that she already had? "I... you wanted answers. I'm not sure where to start."

"The beginning usually works."

"Oh. Well... I wasn't there for the beginning. I think it was... Halloweve?"

"Halloween?"

I nodded. "Yes, that's it."

"How does a girl your age not know Halloween?"

"I'm..." I calculated quickly, "Forty-three days old. I think I'm doing pretty well."

"Forty-three _day_s?" She shook her head. "This isn't making any sense."

I groaned. "Okay, never mind that for now. There was a party at school for Halloweve."

"Halloween."

"Whatever. There was some trouble at the party, something about the fireworks I think. Some of the girls..." I paused and then realised there wasn't much point to trying to hide their identities since Will had teleported them away. "Cornelia, Taranee, Irma and Hay Lin; had noticed that odd things were going on. Irma's dress changed colour. Cornelia's room tidied itself -"

"I wouldn't mind that sort of strange thing happening to Will's room every now and then."

I giggled. "Yes, well. That night all five of them dreamed of the Heart of Kandrakar."

"What's that?"

"You might have seen Will holding it just before we left. Pink glowing crystal in a silver setting?"

"I didn't get a good look before you disappeared," she said sadly. "Where did you go? That blue man - Vathek? - his home?"

"Well, not directly. To Metamoor, anyway. I don't know if Vathek even has a home of his own. Um. The two Interpol people didn't mention the disappearing so I suppose you _didn't_ tell them about that?"

Mom shook her head. Her long black hair was almost as impressive when tossed like that as Cornelia's longer blonde locks. I felt pronounced hair envy: maybe I could grow my hair out someday? "No. Without evidence they'd just have assumed I was hysterical or lying. I wasn't sure about the first as it was."

I rubbed my head. "So they'd not believe in magic?"

"I rather doubt it. I'm not convinced myself."

That seemed a little odd. I'd literally never known an instant where magic wasn't a real factor in my life. Granted, a factor that I understood almost nothing at all about, but undeniably real. Then again, my life wasn't exactly typical. A more pressing concern presented itself while I contemplated that and I blushed as my stomach rumbled.

Mom's expression shifted slightly. "Let me guess. No breakfast?"

I laughed awkwardly. "Not really. I was going to get some fruit but..."

She sighed and pointed at the fruit bowl. "Have something to tide you over. I'm sure we've got enough in the fridge to feed you for today... or we can order out if we have to."

I took an orange from the bowl and started to peel it.

"No wonder we've been going through so much food," she added after a minute. "I thought it was Will having her friends over all the time, not that I was feeding two teenage appetites full time."

"Sorry."

"It doesn't matter particularly, I was just thinking out loud. So you said that the girls all dreamed of the Heart of Candy-car?"

"Kandrakar," I corrected her mildly. "Yes, so they tell me. And the next day, when they were at Hay Lin's her grandmother had the Heart and explained they were Guardians of the Veil. There was lots of capitalisation being thrown around I guess."

"I think I'd like to have a word with her about dragging young girls into this," Mom declared angrily.

"Ah... that's probably not going to go so well. She died before I was created."

Mom made an angry noise that suggested to me that it might be for the best that Mrs. Lin wasn't around. If nothing else, Hay Lin and Will might have gotten dragged into the shouting.

"Anyway," I said hastily. "That's when Elyon disappeared. While the other girls were with Mrs. Lin, she'd gone to see a boy she met at the Halloween party. His name's Cedric and he's from Metamoor, another world ruled by Prince Phobos. I don't know exactly what happened but by that evening he'd convinced her she was Phobos' long-lost sister and that she should help him lure her friends into a trap. That was their first real battle and they barely escaped him. If they hadn't had the Heart and been able to transform... they might have been captured or worse."

"That's what worries me." She frowned. "Go back a bit, you said you were _created_?"

"Yes, this was a little later. Um, you remember when you had that cold and had to take a day off work?"

She nodded and then frowned. "Will went out that evening and didn't come back for _hours_! Was she off in this Metamoor place?"

"Ah... no, she was... chasing me down. Um. You see Taranee had been captured a couple of days before so everyone went to Metamoor to rescue her. Will had come up with the idea of creating Astral Drops which are sort of... magical puppets? She created one to take Taranee's place so her family wouldn't worry about her."

"A clone?"

"A what?"

"A clone. A... perfect copy of someone."

I shoved a couple of segments of orange into my mouth to give me time to think. "I suppose so," I agreed at last. "Although we're not exactly perfect copies. Anyway, since they didn't know how long it would take to find Taranee, they created Astral Drops for the rest of them before they went. So when you found Will asleep on the couch that night..."

"It was you?" she asked accusingly. "Oh that girl! Why didn't she _tell_ me!?"

"..."

"_What_?" Her eyes were flashing with anger.

"Probably..." I gulped nervously. "Because she was afraid you'd do what you did this morning?"

To my horror, Mom's face crumpled from anger to anguish. "Oh god! What have I _done_!?" She buried her face in her hands. "Will's _afraid_ of me!"

I went around the table and put my arms around her shoulders. It wasn't until she stiffened that I realised that that might not be the best idea. "She's afraid that you won't _want_ her."

"How could she think that!? Will's _everything_ to me!"

It wouldn't have been diplomatic to point out that at least while I'd known them, they'd also had at least one blazing row each week. Instead I hugged her tighter. "I know." There were tears in my own eyes. What would be left for me if Will never returned? What if my clumsiness this morning divided her from Mom forever? How could I ever forgive myself if that happened?

She put one arm around me. "You care for her too."

"_Of course_ I do!"

She patted me on the back. "Let me up a moment."

Opening one of the cupboards she pulled out a dark green glass bottle and filled a glass with the dark red contents. It took me a moment to realise that it looked like what Van Dahl had been drinking when I first met him. "Is that wine?"

"Yes."

"Isn't that alcoholic?" I folded my arms. "Will said I shouldn't drink anything alcoholic. It's bad for me."

"It's not for you." She lifted the glass.

"Well if it's no good for me, how is it any good for you?"

Mom put the glass down. "You're too young to drink. What was it, forty-five days?"

"Forty-three. So I'm younger and probably healthier. Either pour me a drink or you don't have any either." I was not having Will come back and find out her Mom was ill for drinking something she shouldn't.

"Are you... I'm a grown woman! You're being ridiculous!" She gave the glass a guilty look and then looked back at me.

I did my best to look stern and unbending. Which probably wasn't very good, really.

She threw up her hands. "Alright." Mom poured the contents of the glass down the sink and put the bottle away. "So Will doesn't approve of drinking? That's reassuring."

"I think it's more that she doesn't think that you do."

"I don't as a rule." Mom looked defensive. "We were talking about you, weren't we?"

I let her get away with the change of subject - better to quit while I was ahead I felt. "Yes, we were. The thing is... well, Astral Drops are supposed to have all their template's memories. Taranee's did a wonderful job of replacing her, no one suspected a thing and Will... didn't particularly like the idea of someone being able to replace her."

"So she made herself a sister instead?"

"Not exactly. Or at least not intentionally. The rest of the Astral Drops were as intended: they knew who they were supposed to be and didn't have any objection to being re-absorbed once the Guardians came back. But WIll made a mistake with me: she didn't give me any of her memories."

"But surely you must have had some idea, or how could you have fooled me that day? Or got through school?" Mom shook her head. "You took a maths test that day, and you did quite well, didn't you?"

"I had some basics. Talking, writing, riding a bike. Besides that I was lucky and... well, honestly? Why _would_ you suspect Will had been replaced by someone else?"

"I suppose you're right. So how did things go from you replacing her for a day to her chasing you that night?"

I grimaced. "Well, I'm not all that keen on being reabsorbed into her. I had a taste of life and I wanted more. So when she got back I ran away."

Mom moved closer and cupped her hand around my neck. "Where would you have gone?"

"Well I was going to try to get to Metamoor. I'm not sure how bright an idea that was now that I've been there, but I was mostly concerned with getting away from Will. I figured she'd not be able to find me there."

"How would you have got there? Magic?"

"There are portals. One of the things the Guardians do is close them, but I didn't know that at the time, just that Will and the others had used one to get there, so I tried to do the same thing. Of course, they'd closed it when they got back." I shrugged. "Will found me while I was still trying to figure out what was going on."

"And she decided to take in another stray?" asked Mom ruefully.

I... hadn't thought of it like that before. But no, she'd called me her sister. That had to be different from her decision to keep Mr Huggles around, didn't it?

Mom pulled me closer and wrapped her other arm around my shoulders. "I have to admit that I was expecting her to be a bit older before she brought someone else into the family. And I've _no_ idea how we're going to explain this to the police."

What?

"But there's going to be some ground rules, young lady."

She didn't mean...?

"Uh... you mean I can stay?" I asked nervously.

Mom kissed me on the forehead. "Welcome to the family, Hope. You're grounded."

I don't think I could have come up with anything to say so I hugged her back. What did being grounded matter? Being forced to spend a lot of time in the apartment? That wasn't exactly unexplored territory for me.

She ruffled my hair. "We're going to have to figure out some new sleeping arrangements though. I had a look at that little loft of yours. It's very cleverly put together, but it's not good enough for my daughter."

"It's alright."

"No, it's not," Mom insisted. "It's a pokey little hole. If Will hadn't felt she had to hide you from me, you could have had a proper bed at least. Not a pile of cushions and a sleeping bag." She produced a handkerchief from her sleeve and wiped at my face. I hadn't even realised I was crying.

"Can I..."

She took the handkerchief away and raised one eyebrow.

"Can I call you Mom?"

"I insist on it," she told me and then we both needed to use the handkerchief.

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For now Mom settled on Will and I sharing the double-bed from her room, so we worked together to switch the beds between bedrooms. She didn't mention for a moment the possibility that Will might not come back to share the bed with me. Nor did I. It didn't bear thinking about.

I was up in the loft, rolling up my sleeping bag, when the phone rang.

"Hold on a moment, Hope." Mom climbed down the ladder - she'd sniffed dismissively at the rope and when I protested, she'd asked archly what it was I'd fallen from this morning - and left the bedroom.

The sleeping bag wasn't particularly breakable so once it was rolled up, I dangled it out of the hatch and flipped it in the direction of the bed. It unrolled partly as it fell and bounced on the mattress. One at a time I flung the cushions I'd been sleeping on after the bag. Without them up here, there really wasn't much left: Van Dahl's drawing, a night-light Will had set up for me and three books that I'd have to take back to the library some time soon.

It all seemed much less cozy now than it had this morning.

"I did ask you to hold on a moment," Mom told me from the door. "Did you leave anything up there?"

"Just the breakables."

"Well pass those down carefully." She climbed the steps again and I passed her the night-light first.

"Is there a plug socket up there for this?"

"No," I answered, "But Will has a way with electrical appliances." I decided not to mention that Giles (the light) would also read to me sometimes when I was tired. All I had to do was hold the book under him and turn the pages when he told me to. It was sometimes comforting when I was lonely up in the loft, and it wasn't as if I had to worry about anyone but Will hearing his voice. I waited until she had both hands on the lamp before letting go and carefully removing the pins holding the drawing of me to a rafter. "Who was on the phone?"

"Matt Olsen. He was wondering why Will hadn't turned up for work at his grandfather's shop... What's this?" asked Mom when I passed her the drawing.

"It was a present," I told her shortly. "Please be careful with it."

"I will." She climbed down and rested it on the computer keyboard. "It's lovely, did Hay Lin draw this?"

I gathered up the books, ready to hand them down. "No, it was a Mr. Van Dahl."

Mom didn't reach up to take the books. "Wi- er, Hope. How did a man happen to draw a picture of you sleeping?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"Well I was sleeping on his bed..." I saw her face going red and flinched. "Er... did I do something wrong?"

"And did anything _else_ happen in that bed?"

I thought frantically. "I don't think so? What else would happen in a bed?"

Mom muttered something I didn't quite catch. "Hope, did Will ever mention anything to you about the birds and the bees?"

I gave her a blank look.

"How about boys and girls and where babies come from?"

"You mean romantic stuff? Um... does talking about Matt count?"

"I rather doubt it." She shook her head and then reached up for the books. "I think we'd better have a little chat about this young lady. There are a few things about boys - and men - that any girl your age ought to know before she gets herself into trouble."

Why did I have a feeling of impending doom?

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"I solemnly swear... no boy touches my unclad body... until I am at least sixteen... Is that sixteen counting from November?" I asked, realising a slight possible conflict between what I was reciting and my actual circumstances. Sixteen years from the date of my creation would be after Will's twenty-ninth birthday.

"Let's count that as your thirteenth birthday, Hope. Mind you, I wouldn't be upset if you waited a good bit more than three years, but that's all I'm insisting on."

"For the next three years, then... and either you or Will gives me a second opinon... cross my heart..." Mom stopped me and moved my hand through what was apparently the proper way of doing that. "...and hope to die."

"Good girl," she assured me and returned the banana to the fruitbowl. Seeing my horrified look, she removed it again and threw it into the bin. "That's enough about that I think. Now how about some... goodness, it's still more or less lunch time. Well, I don't know about you but _I'm_ hungry."

Within a few minutes, the makings of some sizeable sandwiches were spread out across the table. Almost mystically my appetite had returned after vanishing about halfway through Mom's description of childbirth.

"I think we're going to have to talk about what to tell the police," Mom decided, spreading some butter over some thick slices of bread. "They will want to know where you are from and if they can't find some confirmation, I doubt they'll be too happy about me adopting you."

I drew my attention away from the important business of layering cold chicken over some cheese and ham on my own plate. "Well I don't imagine that it would be a good idea to lie to them..."

"It would be a very _bad_ idea. The only reason I'm even considering it is that letting anyone know that Will is a Guardian of the Veil might put her in even more danger." She held up one hand. "And discussion of that part of your sister's life will have to wait until she returns."

I rubbed my hands. "Oh that's going to be fun?"

"And what do you mean by that?"

"Just that you both tend to finish 'discussions' shouting at each other."

Mom looked pained. "I know," she admitted. "But now she doesn't have to hide everything in her life from me. Maybe that will make things better."

"I hope so. Just... try to keep your temper in check? Please?"

"_My_ temper?"

"Well you're the adult..."

She dropped her knife and gave me a look that I wasn't sure how to interpret. "You're going to take some getting used to, I can tell."

"Uh..." What was I supposed to say to that? "Maybe we should tell the police enough about the truth for them to draw their own conclusions," I suggested, going back to the previous topic of conversation. "It's perfectly true that I met Will, Irma, Cornelia and Hay Lin at Shell Cave and that I have no memory of anything before then. And Will really did bring me home from there and hid me from you for the last six weeks. If the police want to go looking for my past before that... well, let them."

She nodded and started adding honey to her bread. "That could work. There is one lead that they could follow though."

I gave her a blank look.

"Do you have any idea what a blood test of you will show? Or a DNA test?"

"I don't even know what they are... I mean... I _probably_ have blood, but I'm not quite as... real as Will is." I didn't dwell on the differences, we'd already established that I hadn't had what Mom had delicately described as a 'monthly visitor' yet, whereas Will had started the year before. If Elyon's spell was still working and it performed as intended then I would probably get to 'enjoy' that too, sooner or later.

Mom nodded. "Mostly they'll be checking your blood for traces of disease and of drugs..."

"Drugs?"

"That's a conversation for another day, I think. The point is though, that they might well find anomalies that will suggest that you aren't... normal. And if that isn't a problem, your DNA will be copied from Will, which will show you to be my daughter and Tony's. I don't know what will happen if he gets contacted about this."

"Tony?"

"Will's father and my former husband." Mom looked sad. "I hate to say it, but I'd rather he never learned of you."

I nodded. "Well there's not much we can do about the medical tests except react to whatever they find as if we don't know it. Which will be easy because..."

"...we don't." She nodded her understanding. "It seems a little chancy."

"I seems very chancy. No offense, Mom, but if someone suggests cutting me open to try to answer any questions raised then I'm going to run away. Probably to Metamoor."

"I'm fairly sure that that only happens in the X-Files, Hope, but if they do try then I'll be with you."

The heartwarming moment was interrupted by the phone ringing again. "We're popular today. No, never mind, I've got it," I added when Mom started to get up.

The phone was just through in the living room. "Vandom Residence?"

"Will?" a man's voice asked. "It's Dean Collins."

I fought down the urge to drop the phone. He may have given me a B on the history report, but that wasn't buying me off for being mad at him giving it to me in the first place. "It's not Will."

"Susan? You're sounding..."

"Not Mom either. Do you want to talk to her?"

"Er... yes please."

"Mom! Confused guy on the phone for you!"

She gave me a look that would have been more intimidating if it wasn't the twinkle in her eye as she took the phone off me. "Hello? ... Oh, Dean!"

I was on my way back to my sandwich when she said, "Don't be silly. Hope and I were just having lunch. Why don't you come over in an hour or so. I'm sure she'd love to meet you."

"We've met," I murmured, hopefully quietly enough that the phone wouldn't pick it up.

Mom arched an eyebrow in a way that I realised meant she'd want to know all about that, and soon. Oops. Hopefully Will wouldn't get into trouble over cutting class that day. Well, _too_ much trouble. I was still a little annoyed about her running off to go swimming, even if it was a plot by Elyon and Cedric.

"She's a friend of Will's but she's all alone in the world, Dean. I'm going to adopt her."

I didn't think that that was quite true, but I guess any talent I have for deception had to come from somewhere."

"Okay, I'll see you in an hour or so," Mom finished and put the phone down. "So when did you -"

The phone rang _again_. We exchanged looks and she picked it up. "Susan Vandom speaking. ... Oh, Agent Medina!"

Great. The call about the hospital check-up.

"Just let me get a pen..." Mom noted down some information. "Okay, we'll see you there." She didn't put the phone down this time, just tapping the release and then dialling another number. "I'm going to call work and let them know I'll not be in tomorrow morning either. You finish your lunch, and you can either plan what you're going to tell Agent Medina about yourself or what you're going to tell me about meeting Dean."

What a decision...

W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.

Dean Collins smiled somewhat uncertainly as I opened the door. "Ah, Will! I gather you have a new sister."

I shrugged. "I'm the new sister. Will's out."

He didn't come in when I stepped back from the door, instead giving me a disbelieving look. "Really?"

"I suppose you'll see when she gets back. Are you coming in or not?"

"Oh, uh, yes." He obediently came in and I waved him towards the lounge where Mom was waiting.

She greeted him with a happy "Dean!" and for a moment I overlaid the image of Will and Matt over them - not that there seemed to be much of an actual relationship going on there, at least that I'd noticed. But somehow, if it did work out, I thought that they might be like these two. So this was romance...

Somehow I couldn't see myself in such a role, but perhaps - as Mom had implied - I was still simply too young, in heart if not body, for such a thing. I could wait.

"I see you've met Hope," she told him after they'd clasped hands for a moment.

"Yes," he agreed, still sounding uncertain.

"For the second time, she tells me."

Professor Collins blinked and turned towards me, a questioning look on my face.

"Third time, technically," I clarified. "We met twice one day - you thought I was Will, which was kind of intentional since we were hiding my existence."

"Well... I can see how I'd fall for that. The resemblence is uncanny."

"You're not the only one they fooled," Mom agreed. "Apparently I've had two daughters since November and neither felt they ought to tell me."

"We're going to be paying for that for a long time, aren't we?" I asked.

"Yes, you are. In your case, you're going to have a lot of school to catch up on."

"I've been working on that!"

"I know and I _am_ pleased about that, but you can't educate yourself as well from books as organised teaching can. Once school starts again, you're going to be taking some placement tests, young lady."

"I'm sure Principal Knickerbocker would be delighted to arrange that," offered Professor Collins. "I assume you'd like Hope to attend Sheffield Institute with Will?"

Mom nodded. "You already have friends there, don't you, Hope?"

"Mostly Will's friends, but yes."

"Well that should work out then," Collins said confidently. "I can talk to the Principal and I'm sure that something can be set up next week once school's back in session."

Then Mom leant forwards and asked a question I'd hoped that she wouldn't think of. "So, Hope, when you met Dean twice in one day, was one of those times at school?"

...rats. I need to learn to keep my mouth shut about incriminating details. "Let's just say there was one history class where Will might have said something unfortunate to you if pressed. She really wasn't too happy that you and Mom were talking about her grades, particularly behind her back."

They exchanged glances. "Well it's not as if I don't have an interest," Mom protested.

"I'm not trying to get into that argument _again_," I assured her. "Just... if you're upset about my grades I'd rather hear about it _before_ it's used as an arguement against my doing something other than studying."

Mom flushed and Dean chuckled lightly, although he cut off sharply when she turned her head in his direction. "You know your own mind, don't you?"

I shrugged.

"I promise to talk about it with you, as long as I get the chance to," Mom assured me. "Between my work and Will always running off with her friends, I don't always have that opportunity."

Once I spread my hands slightly to concede her point, she added: "I can already tell you're going to be keeping me and Will in line."

I pointed at myself and gave her the 'who, me?' look. You all know the one.

Mom laughed. "And who was it who was giving me a hard time over a glass of wine earlier? I feel for my future grandchildren."

"I am _not_ in any hurry." I shuddered. Mom's description of giving birth to Will had been... detailed.

That got a laugh from both of them. "Nor am I, sweetheart." Mom gave me a hug. "So why don't you tell Dean about what subjects you like at school..."


	6. Chapter 6

*Hope!*

I sat bolt upright as I heard Taranee's voice inside my head. *Taranee? You're back?*

"Hope, are you okay?" Mom asked, breaking off her conversation with Collins.

"Bathroom," I said hastily, dropping my spoon into the bowl of soup I'd been eating and running for that room. *Is everyone okay?* Her mental voice sounded fainter than I remembered it.

*We're okay. I can't talk long at this distance though. Are you okay? Miss Rudolph said she hadn't seen you!*

The news took a weight off my chest that I hadn't realised until it was gone. They were safe! *I'm with Mom and Professor Collins at home,* I explained quickly. *I'll fill you in once you're closer, but I think things are going to work out.*

*That's good. Do my parents know?* she thought worriedly.

*Not yet.* I'm not sure she heard me though. She didn't reply.

When I looked in the mirror I realised that there were tears running down my face. I wasn't sad or afraid any more, but now I was crying? "Silly," I told my reflection and used a cloth to wipe them away.

"Are you okay in there?" Mom opened the door a crack and saw my face.

'Will's safe', I mouthed quickly, before she could get the wrong idea. I mopped at my face again. "I'm sorry, everything just hit me at once."

"Oh honey, it's going to be okay." She put her arms around me.

"I know... I... I'm just crying for some reason."

Mom took the cloth and helped me dab away the tears. "It's been a bit of a strange day, hasn't it?"

I nodded jerkily.

Mr. Collins cleared his throat from outside the room. "Is there anything I could do to help?" he asked nervously.

"Put some plates over our bowls, Dean. We may be a moment or two." She waited until his footsteps told us he'd gone back to the kitchen. "He's a sweet guy," she confided. "I wish that Will could see that."

I didn't say anything.

"You don't like him either?"

Great. "I'm not getting involved in this, Mom."

"You're part of this family, you _are_ involved."

"Mom... okay, look. The first time I met him, I'd really been excited about going to school. It wasn't something I'd been able to do: Will really didn't have to talk me into it, I was happy to. I could go out, meet our friends, have new experiences. And then, first class, history. I left that class feeling about two inches tall. I know he isn't always like that... but when I look at him I just can't forget that class."

"It was that bad?"

"It felt that way." I took her arm as she started to head towards the door. "Look, since then he's been okay and I get that no one's perfect. Don't make a big deal about it."

Mom scowled. "It is a big deal, Hope. It doesn't matter if it's you or Will, no one gets to have a go at my daughters."

"I think Vathek got off lucky then." Oops. I probably should _not_ have said that.

"Oh really?" Mom took a seat on the toilet and gestured for me to sit down on the edge of the bath. "So what's your history with him?"

"Well, not so much personally. I met him in Metamoor after he joined the rebels there. The thing is, before that he worked for Cedric."

"This would be one of the enemies?" asked Mom. "I have to admit I have trouble seeing someone called Cedric as a problem."

"You wouldn't say that if you saw him. He's this horrible snake-man thing." I shivered. "And however bad Professor Collins was, he's a thousand times meaner. He had Elyon threaten to kill me if I didn't steal the Heart of Kandrakar for him."

"And Vathek _worked_ for that monster?" Mom exclaimed. "How could you possibly have anything to do with him?"

"Well he stood up to him later. And he was pretty nice when I met him. I wasn't feeling so well after... uh, after coming through the portal so he carried me around on his shoulder most of the time."

"Well I suppose that that was nice of him." She still looked unhappy though. "It does leave me with a few questions though: why did the portal leave you unwell, why were you in Metamoor anyway and why is this Phobos your enemy. From what you say, Elyon is his sister..."

"Yes. And if he'd just taken her back and stayed there probably no one would have ever known. But she kept coming back, baiting the others and luring them into traps. From what we've seen, Phobos is a tyrant. We don't know for sure what he's after but with the way he keeps trying to bring down the Veil between worlds he wants to come here. And I don't think he's planning on bringing cookies and tea."

"This sounds more and more like a children's cartoon."

"That'd be nice."

Mom gave me a look. "How do you mean?"

"I've seen those things! No one's ever really hurt and they always end with a laugh." I hung my head. "I guess real life isn't that neat and tidy."

"Well maybe it is this time," Mom suggested. "You said that Will's okay, right? Are the others?"

I nodded. "That's what Taranee said."

"How did she tell you? Some sort of magical telephone?"

"She's a telepath - you know, speaking to me with her mind."

"A telepath!" Mom shook her head. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. So they all have powers like that? Can she tell you when they'll be back?"

I spread my hands. "We're outside her usual range, she barely got through with a quick message to me. They're going to come here though. I expect they'll check with me once they're closer to see if it's safe to come in."

"Why wouldn't it be safe?"

I nodded towards the door. "Do you want him here for the explanations?"

Mom froze for a moment. "I..."

"Imagine, for a moment, having what's likely to be a... um... emotional discussion with Will, with him in the room," I suggested. I could imagine it all too well.

She sighed. "I guess not."

W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.

We found Dean in the kitchen, sitting awkwardly as if he were unsure if he was allowed to go anywhere else.

"Dean, I'm sorry, I'm not being a very good hostess today."

The teacher shook his head in denial. "Being a good hostess isn't as important as being a good mother, Susan. I understand that." He nodded to the covered bowls in front of our seats. "I'm afraid they might need to be reheated though."

"Well that's why we have a microwave." Mom took our bowls over to it. Once her hands were free again she pulled her cellphone out of her hip pocket. "Will texted me to let me know she's on her way home. I imagine she'll be a little while yet, but once she gets here I think I'm going to have to lay down the law a bit."

Professor Collins looked at her for a moment and then caught the hint. "Ah. Not the sort of conversation that would be helped by having someone she sees as an interloper around?"

"I feel rotten about this when I invited you over, but..."

"It's alright. Don't be too hard on her, Susan. After all, you have been talking about her needing to be responsible and I think it's hard to say she's taken too little responsibility by caring for Hope - more in the other direction," he finished with a nod in my direction.

I felt my cheeks colour slightly. "I can pull my own weight."

"I'm not saying you haven't," Professor Collins assured me. "I'm just pointing out that Will must have too."

The microwave dinged merrily and I - but not the two adults - heard it declare proudly: "All done!"

"Yeah, yeah," the stove grumbled. The pair of appliances seemed to have something of a rivalry.

Collins rose to his feet. "I'll see of I can talk to Mrs. Knickerbocker tonight about Hope's placement tests."

"On a Friday night?" asked Mom in surprise.

"If the last couple of years are any guide, she'll be getting an early start making sure that the school is ready for Monday morning," he advised us. "I think Sheffield Institute's more a home to her than her house is."

"I'm sorry," Mom said again to him.

"And I'm happy to help."

"Why don't you walk him downstairs, Mom?" I suggested. "I can take care of the soup."

She gave me a grateful look and once they had departed I put her bowl back in the microwave and dug into my own. I'm not saying it was the greatest soup ever made (it was from a tin, after all), but it was warm and filling, which was what I wanted right now. It also wasn't Mom's homemade soup, about which the less said the better. I might not have the widest range of experience when it came to food but I knew that Will and Taranee were competing in tales of culinary disasters by Mom and Mr. Cook and that wasn't a good sign.

I'd finished the bowl and was running the tap to give it a quick soak before I put it in the dishwasher when the apartment door opened and Mom called: "Hello Hope, look who I found outside."

"Will?" I guessed. Wasn't Taranee going to give me a mental call when they were close?

"I'll give you partial credit for that."

"Hi Hope," Will grumbled as she was marched into the kitchen, along with the other four Guardians. "We got caught."

"No kidding. At least it wasn't Cedric or Frost," I pointed out. "Welcome home."

"Frost?" asked Mom. "Another of Phobos's people I take it?"

"I guess Hope explained about that," Cornelia sighed. "Yes. Nasty fellow who used to ride around on a rhinoceros-monster until Will left it locked in Van Dahl's painting.

"He was really nice once Frost wasn't on top of it," my sister reminisced.

There were a succession of eye rolls. I dreaded the possibility that Cedric one day thought to send a frog-monster after the Guardians - Will would probably be too busy cooing over it to do anything useful.

"The phone's in the lounge," Mom reminded the other girls pointedly. "Don't you have phone calls to make?"

"Yes, Mrs. Vandom," Irma, Taranee, Taranee and Hay Lin chorused, obediently. There was something odd about Irma's clothes and it took me a moment to realise that her sweater was definitely too tight for her.

"Irma, where did you get those clothes?" She hadn't _had_ any except for her Guardian uniform, last time I'd seen her.

"I borrowed them from Elyon's wardrobe," she explained. "Why? I'll put them through the laundry before I put them back."

"Are you going to fix that seam too?" I asked her, pointing at one armpit, where the strain of containing someone noticeably more 'developed' than Elyon (or the rest of us) had evidently pulled something loose. (In fairness, I think Irma was just sturdily built as well. Elyon's kind of willowy).

"Er..."

Mom rolled her eyes. "Come with me Irma. Will's clothes won't fit you either but I guess I can lend you a T-shirt."

"So what are they making phone calls for?" I asked Will quietly once everyone else had left the kitchen.

"Mom told them they could call home and arrange to have dinner here while I explain about the Guardians or she could call their homes and explain she'd seen us run off with a shady looking guy. So why didn't you go to Miss Rudolph?"

"I was detained by the police before I even reached the street," I explained quickly. "They seemed to know you - Maria and Joel?"

"Oh, those Interpol people from yesterday! Do you think they suspect anything?"

"I'm sure they suspect something, but it's probably not the truth. Oh, they're probably going to ask some questions about how you found me down at that cave with no memories."

Will blinked. "What? They know about you!?"

"Yep. Mom's been very understanding."

"I knew she'd like you." Her face fell. "She must be furious."

"I think she's past that. Mind you, she still grounded me."

"That's so harsh!" Hay Lin exclaimed as she came back in. "How long for?"

"Pretty much until she says otherwise." I shrugged. "It's not a big deal: she's seeing about getting me into school too so I'll probably actually be getting out much more than I'm used to."

"But only to school. That's harsh," Will pointed out. "Do you think she's going to ground me too?"

We looked at each other. We both nodded.

"That's so cute!" Hay Lin declared. "Not being grounded," she added hastily, "But doing things together like that."

"I think you might want to focus on getting an exemption to your grounding for being a Guardian," I suggested hastily to Will. Who knew how long Mom would be with Irma?

Will looked surprised. "You think she'll agree to it?"

"I didn't say that it would be _easy_."

We were interrupted by an appalled shriek from Mom's bedroom: "No, you can't!"

The two of us were only a hair behind Hay Lin as we burst into the room. Irma - now wearing a Vance Michael Justin T-shirt that I hadn't even known that Mom _had_ - was actually white-faced. "My dad's a _cop_!" she exclaimed. "He'll lock me away forever if he finds out about this."

"The fact that he's a police officer is precisely why you should have told him," Mom pointed out firmly. "Something like this should be dealt with _by_ the police - or perhaps the army. Not young girls like you - or a single mother like me either." She made a shooing gesture. "Now, back into the lounge. Irma still has a phone call to make."

"Mom, you can't just tell everyone about this!"

"I most certainly can," she shot Will down firmly, but then raised her hand. "However, you'll get your chance to dissuade me in a few minutes. I admit I don't know everything, so I'm going to hear you all out first. But I'm warning you, you're going to have to have some pretty good reasons for me not to tell the authorities and I really can't think of anything you might say that wouldn't justify me telling your parents. What if one of you didn't come back from one of these... things that you do? Can you imagine how they would feel, never knowing what happened to their daughters?"

I'm not sure how much of that Will actually listened to because her response was to stab an accusatory finger at the bed in Mom's room. "Is that _my_ bed?"

"We don't have a third bed, Will, so you and Hope will be sharing for now."

"Sharing a bed!"

"No daughter of mine is sleeping in that pokey little hole."

"Okay..."

I caught Will's shoulder and pulled her out of the room. "Look at it this way," I whispered. "Now she has a single bed, she can't share it with anyone."

Will's eyes went wide. "Ew! I don't even want to think about that!"

"She gave me an extensive talking to about boys this morning." I put my hands on my hips. "I may be traumatised."

"Your Mom gave you The Talk!?" exclaimed Irma. She gave me a sympathetic hug. "Don't worry, we'll help you get over it. Hey, now that you're not a secret maybe I can set you up with Martin!"

"I wouldn't dream of spoiling your beautiful relationship," I told her sweetly.

"We're not in a relationship!"

"But you went on a date and everything."

"There was no everything! He took me to the Museum, as a friend! And only because my stupid Astral Drop agreed to it!"

"So you want to pawn him off on me?"

"Well it'd let you break into dating the easy way..."

Cornelia raised on eyebrow as we walked into the lounge. "Whatever she's trying to sell you, Hope, don't buy it."

"I wasn't planning to," I assured her. "So your parents are okay with you staying for dinner?"

She nodded. "Of course. So how did things work out here?"

"As far as anyone but Mom goes, you girls found me in that cave down on the beach and I don't remember anything before then."

"That should be easy to remember."

"Of course if she decides to tell the police the truth, I guess that's not going to matter," I added.

"The truth? As in... all about us?" Cornelia's voice had a definite squeak to it. "But everyone would think we're freaks."

"Hey, we're like, superheroes!" protested Irma. "Are you done on the phone, Taranee?"

The other Guardian gave her weary look. "I promise, Mom, I won't be out late and you can call me here any time," she said into the phone. "Sure, I'll call you to pick me up when we're done. ... No later than eight, I promise. ... I love you too, Mom." Taranee handed the phone over to Irma. "Mom's going to kill me when she finds out about my being a Guardian."

I patted her reassuringly on the shoulder, trying to think of something to say. 'You can have my pokey little loft to hide in,' probably wouldn't have the right ring to it and besides, Mom knew about it now. Apparently a verbal response wasn't required because she leant against me and began to sniffle. I very cautiously put my arms around her shoulders and maneuvered her towards the couch. Will perched on the corner so she could hug Taranee from the other side and Cornelia sat herself neatly beside me.

Mom waited until Irma had finished talking her mother into letting her stay for dinner and then waved the other two onto the other couch. "So, from what Hope tells me, your grandmother gave Will the Heart of Kandrakar and that's what gives you..." She looked lost for words for a moment. "Magic powers? And then this Phobos character started sending people after you?"

"It's not grandma's fault!" Hay Lin protested.

"Ah..." That wasn't what I'd said? Was it?

"Let them speak, Hope."

*That's not what I told her!* I thought, hoping that Taranee would be listening.

"We had powers before Mrs. Lin told us about the Guardians," Cornelia insisted quickly. "Taranee protected Irma and Will from the fireworks that went wild at the Halloween Party."

"Yeah!" Irma agreed. "And the minute Cedric had his claws into Elyon he had her help him set a trap for him. We'd never even heard of him, but he and Vathek would have captured me, Hay Lin and Will the next night if Will hadn't used the Heart to transform us!"

Mom's expression tightened. "Yes, that's more or less what Hope told me. I rather hoped that she was wrong."

She set me up!

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, but I had to be sure." She leant against the wall. "Dammit."

"Mom?" Will sounded about as shocked as I was. Mom swearing?

"So much for Plan A, which was to sling the two of you in the car and get as far away from Heatherfield as possible. And recommending your parents," she looked at the others. "Do exactly the same, but in different directions."

"You can't!" at least three different protests arose.

"No, I can't. Because it seems fairly obvious that Phobos would keep trying to get at you so you wouldn't be any safer than you are now. And that's what matters here, girls. This magic kingdom or whatever it is got itself into a mess all by itself and that's very sad but there is no way on God's Earth that it's worth putting your lives at risk. Will's not even fourteen yet -"

There was a mumbled "Two more weeks," from my sister that everyone ignored.

"- and I don't recall any of you being much older - if any. You ought to be worrying about schoolwork and boys liking you, not something like this."

"I _do_ worry about those things," Irma pointed out.

"You worry enough about school for both of us," Will added rather pointedly.

"Will, honestly how much of the trouble we've been having these past couple of months has been because you were doing all this on top of all this?"

"Mom, this is more important than that!"

"And other circumstances - where you weren't putting your _life_ at risk and hiding it from me - I would be very impressed that you've taken responsibility for something important. In fact, I _am_ impressed. But I still don't want you doing this. You're not a _soldier_! None of you are!"

"Elyon's my friend," pointed out Cornelia. "And she needs my help. _Say_ you go to the government and _say_ that they believe you... do you really think they'll care about one girl who isn't even _from_ Earth in the first place? And incidentally? How are you going to convince them of anything without evidence? _I_ won't give you any."

"Young lady..."

"Mom!" I spoke up quickly. Tempers were obviously getting high. "Can we have a moment?"

I don't know what she saw when she looked at me but it convinced her to nod. "Help me get some drinks then. What would you girls like?"

We took orders and withdrew into the kitchen.

"What is it, Hope?"

"Mom, I'm not sure how to put this, but..."

She opened the cupboard for glasses. "Start at the beginning?"

"It's sort of the other end. Look, if comes to the point that Will has to choose between you and the others, I don't see how it'll do anything but hurt all three of us."

The colour fled her face and one of the glasses hit the floor and shattered.

"Mom!?" Will called.

"Just a glass," I called back when Mom didn't answer.

"You think she'd leave?" Mom asked in a small voice. I wasn't sure if there should have been an 'us' or a 'me' at the end of that, but it didn't really matter in this case. Will had at least considered it earlier and while I'd decided to stay and try to work things out for her... if it became a permanent decision then I'd be going with Will.

Whether she wanted me to or not.

"I hope not. But if it comes to that, however she chooses... she _will_ hold it against you forever."

"At least she'll be _alive_!"

"We don't know that either. She could be a Guardian for the rest of her life and never get so much as a scratch... or she could quit it and be hit by a car the next day. I know neither of those is the most likely but, we do know that if she has to make that choice then she'll be desperately unhappy."

"And would you?"

I looked away. "This isn't about me, Mom. It'd be her choice."

"What would you do?"

"In her shoes? Or yours?"

There was a long pause.

"I don't know, Mom. I don't want her hurt either, but it's her life. If she goes... I'll do my best to look after her."

Mom looked down at the broken glass. "I seem to be breaking everything today."

"You haven't broken anything important." There was a 'yet' that hung unspoken between us. I went to the store cupboard and found a dustpan and brush. "I'll get the glass cleaned up."

"Remember to bag the glass - we don't want it cutting through the bin-bags," Mom 'reminded' me and I got a paper bag to contain the shards against that possibility.

"Girls," I heard Mom say as she took a tray of drinks through into the lounge. "I've been looking at this from the wrong end. Why don't you just tell me about what you've been doing as Guardians. I shouldn't try to make decisions when I don't really know what's been going on."

I hid a smile as I rejoined them in the room and saw Irma giving an animated description of how she'd rescued Will from Elyon's water tentacle. (Literally animated, she was using water in her glass to show the way it had happened).

One crisis averted. Hopefully the next couple of dozen would be as 'easy'.

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I'll spare you the recitation of the hospital visit. If you're at least my age you've probably been through the like or in some cases (I'm thinking of you guys) you _really_ don't want to hear about it. About the only redeeming factor was that Mom and Will were there with me, since the doctors insisted Will went through the same tests (I think they just wanted to make sure that we weren't switching places to mess with their results) and even Mom had some tests done.

And then came the moment I'd been dreading: Me, Mom and Will sitting across a table in the police station from agents Maria Medina and Joel McTiernan of Interpol.

Mom had agreed to go with the original plan of pretending I had amnesia, at least until the others' parents had been told about their being Guardians, but that meant we'd all be lying - or at least be skating very carefully around the truth - to the police. If we got caught... then I get the impression that Mom would have a really hard time adopting me.

"So, Hope." Maria gave me a disarming look. "Are you ready to tell us where you come from?"

I put my head in my hands. "Remember yesterday when you asked about my family name?"

"Yes, and I understand that you've won Mrs. Vandom over onto your side of that?" She smiled to take the sting out of that.

Mom took my hand and squeezed it slightly while Will put her hand on my shoulder briefly. "I was more meaning the bit where I told you that as far as I know, I don't have any other family name."

She nodded.

"Well, that goes for pretty much everything else. I don't remember a family or a home. Heck, when Will found me I honestly didn't even realise I looked like her until she told me."

Joel made a disgusted noise. "Amnesia? Really? You couldn't come up with a story better than the sort of rubbish they put in kid's cartoons?"

I looked over at Will. "You see? I told you we should have come up with a lie instead."

"No lying to the police, Hope," Mom told me firmly.

I shrugged. "I'm sorry, but I really don't have any memories before then. If you have some way of shaking some loose then I'd be delighted to try anything short of being cut apart for samples. Believe me, you can't possibly be as curious about the answers as I am."

"You might be surprised," grated Joel. "Anyway, if you have amnesia how do you know your own name?"

"I don't, Cornelia hung Hope on me a month back. It's better than not having one."

"We had to have something to put on your Christmas presents," Will added.

Maria rolled her eyes slightly. "Let's start with what you do remember. So where did you first meet Will?"

"Shell Cave - it's on a little beach not far along the coast. I guess it's a bit of a hang-out for couples - lots of names scratched into the stone."

That got me nods. "Can you point it out on a map?"

"I guess. I haven't seen a lot of maps but I'm pretty sure I could figure it out."

"Okay. I'll get back to you on doing that. What were you there for, Will?"

"Uh, getting the grand tour." Will shrugged. "Hay Lin, Irma and Cornelia were showing me some of the local hang-outs."

"Not Taranee Cook?" asked McTiernan sharply.

That got him a shake of Will's head. "Some family thing that evening, I think."

Maria made a note. "And this would have been, which day?"

"Wednesday the twenty-first," we answered in unison. I shrugged at her look. "Pretty obvious you'd want to know so we checked a calendar."

"I suppose it is obvious. Did you check a clock as well?"

"Not at the time, no. But it was after four o'clock. The sun was setting when I got there," Will remembered. "That might pin it down better."

"How did you get there?" Joel cut in sharply.

"On my bike," Will answered immediately.

For me part I shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. I guess I could have looked for footprints on the beach but I didn't think to at the time."

He glowered at me for a moment. "And how long were you there before Ms. Vandom and her friends arrived?"

"I dunno. Long enough to look around the cave all the way to the back."

"You didn't leave it?"

"I was nerving myself up to try when they got there." They both gave me incredulous looks. "Hey, outdoors is _scary_ when all you know is a cave."

"And then you saw someone who looked just like you?" asked Maria.

"Well, I saw four girls. Checking my reflection hadn't come up on my to-do list," I snarked back.

"I thought the girls had walked me towards a mirror, some kind of practical joke," Will extemporised. "Irma cracking a joke about me having a twin sister didn't help. Still it did seem to be the most likely explanation."

Mom blinked. "You thought...?"

Will flushed slightly. "Why do you think I was dropping hints about sisters back then?"

"I thought you were making comments about me and Dean."

My sister's eyes were probably about as wide as mine. "Ewwww! Don't even think about it!"

And now the three adults were laughing at us. Wonderful.

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To my surprise the results from the various tests would take a few days to be determined - it always seemed to take less time on television and the questioning by Interpol went on for what seemed like forever and a day. Surely they should have been done by then but apparently not, which meant having to wait on tenterhooks for a couple of days.

Still, at least they weren't trying to lock me in a freezer yet.

This left me free for Mom's next little brainstorm. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Hale. Can I get your coats?"

"Thank you, Will," Cornelia's mother said graciously, taking off her overcoat before stooping to help her younger daughter with hers.

"Mom, this is Hope," Cornelia corrected her.

I smiled slightly and took her coat. "How can you tell?"

The blonde paused. "It's something about the way you stand," she said thoughtfully. "I can't quite put my finger on it... anyway, this is Lillian."

The younger Hale daughter was very much a half-pint version of Cornelia and her bratty expression was probably an attempt at something like her sister's customary reserve. Or perhaps just a younger version. "Are you sure you're not Will?" she asked suspiciously. "Is this some sorta game?"

I finished hanging up the coats and ushered them through into the lounge, where Will was laying out some bowls of snacks on the coffee table. "See for yourself."

"Oh..." she said in surprise, looking back and forth between us.

"Remarkable," agreed her father. "And the two of you aren't related?"

"Not so far as we've been able to find out. The doctors are doing some tests, but who knows?"

"I wish _I_ had a twin sister," decided Lillian.

Cornelia, Will and I looked at each other. _Never_ going to happen, we all resolved (if probably for differing reasons). "You can borrow mine," Will offered.

I gave her a pained look.

"But only if you return her in good condition," she added, waving one finger.

"Is that a babysitter I hear being volunteered?" asked Mrs. Hale with a smile in my direction.

"What is a 'babysitter'?" I asked, offering around a plate of cookies.

Lillian took three of the cookies, suggesting she might be more a proto-Irma than the next Cornelia. Her mother took two of them off her. "One at a time," she reproved the girl mildly. "Someone who keeps an eye on younger children while their parents are out. Cornelia seems to feel she has more important things to do than watch Lillian some nights."

Cornelia shrugged with apparent indifference to that chiding. "Just make sure you get paid," she advised me. "Believe me, you'll earn it."

"Sorry to keep you," Mom greeted them, stepping through from the kitchen. "The vegetables demanded my attention."

"I know how that goes," Mrs. Hale agreed. "You know Cornelia of course, but this is my husband Howard and our little princess Lillian."

Lillian beamed up at Mom in a fashion calculated to make her melt with sheer cuteness. The crumbs from her first cookie only added to the effect. Clearly I had much to learn.

Her mother gave her one of the cookies she'd taken off her a moment ago. "Don't worry about spoiling her appetite," she added drily. "Nothing seems to."

"Pleased to meet you both." Mom shook hands all round. "Would you like anything to drink?" she offered and then eyeballed me. Evidently I wasn't going to live that down any time soon. I obediently didn't say anything when Mrs. Hale asked for glass of wine. Mr. Hale said he would be driving and requested fruit juice.

Once everyone settled down with drinks - Mom had decided to have a soda, the same as we four girls - Mr. Hale leant forwards slightly. "Ms. Vandom... Susan... I was sorry to learn that Cornelia helped Will to hide Hope from you."

"I understand why they did it. And they didn't just hide Hope, they also looked after her so I have to give some credit for that." Mom's eyes flicked to Lillian for a moment and then she gave Cornelia a questioning look.

Cornelia's own expression was unhappy but she nodded. "Lillian, Will and I need to show Mom and Dad something. Can you help us?"

"What are you up to?" she asked suspiciously but she climbed to her feet.

"You'll see." Cornelia stood against the wall. "Now Will's going to draw a line to show how tall I am. I want you to make sure I'm being fair - that my legs are straight and I'm not up on my tip-toes or anything like that."

The shorter blonde all but tackled her sister. "Okay, I got you."

Will made a mark and wrote a C next to it. "Okay, squirt. Now Cornelia draws a line for me."

"My name's not squirt!"

"She also answers to Little Monkey."

"Girls!" the two mothers in the room warned while Lillian assaulted Will's legs - basically unnecessary since unlike Cornelia neither of us was wearing an ankle-length skirt so it would be pretty clear to her parents if Will was trying to fake the results.

"What exactly are you going to show us honey?"

Cornelia waved for her father to give her a moment. "So these are the right heights for us, okay?"

He nodded.

They were looking at Cornelia but I was looking at Will. The Heart of Kandrakar was already around her neck and it started glowing as if in anticipation even before her fingers closed around it.

The light drew attention: "What is -"

"Guardians Unite."

Mrs. Hale cried out in shock as pink light swept up my sister. Her husband jumped to his feet, glass of juice crashing to the carpet when Cornelia was engulfed in a blaze of green. "Cornelia!"

And then they stood before us. Not girls any more, but women and delicately be-winged women at that. "Yes daddy?"

Words failed him.

"Cornelia's a _fairy_!"

Lillian's expert analysis drew an offended pout to her sister's face. "I'm a Guardian of the Veil."

"Hope isn't the only secret I found out yesterday," Mom explained, rather redundantly. She gestured for me to stand next to Will for contrast. The marks on the wall might not be be necessary for comparison with the two of us: Will was now clearly larger than me... in more than one direction. Just saying.

"And what is a 'Guardian of the Veil'?" demanded Mrs. Hale.

"I'm guessing that it's a long story," Mr. Hale said with a forced calm. He picked up his glass and looked at Mom. "Do you have anything stronger than wine?"

"I can find you something," Mom assured him. "As long as you don't plan to drive."

He waved the idea off. "We can take a taxi."

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Lillian was beyond excitement and was yawning by the time we reached dessert and her parents were more or less up to date. Dissected step by step by parents, the story that the other two girls were telling was less gripping and more like some exceptionally boring lab report for school. "Are you tired?" I asked her quietly.

"No." She shook her head and yawned again.

"Yes you are," Cornelia disagreed.

"Am not!"

Mrs. Hale gave them a weary look. "Don't fight girls."

"Well since you're not tired, would you like to meet Will's pet, Mr. Huggles?" I suggested quickly before it could turn into an arguement. Somehow I didn't think that that would go well.

Lillian blinked. "Is he cute?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "Why don't you tell me?"

The little girl pushed her chair back and took my hand as I guided her to Will's - to Will and I's - bedroom. "Are you really not real?"

Ouch. "You're the one holding my hand, Lili'. Do I feel real?"

"It's Lilli_an_, not Lili'!"

"And I'm a real girl."

"Okay," she agreed with a pout.

I opened the door to our room and ushered her in.

"So many frogs!" she exclaimed. There were indeed frogs everywhere: stuffed toys, pictures, logos on bedding, clothes and all sorts of decoration. My sleeping bag (now sharing the bed with Will's duvet) was among the few things that didn't share that trend. Then Mr. Huggles popped his head up over the duvet and all the frogs ceased to matter. Lillian's eyes went wide. "He's so cute!"

"Don't scare him," I warned, catching the girl by the shoulders as she started to throw herself towards the dormouse. Her getting bitten would probably please no one. "Gently does it."

When I lifted my hands off her, Lillian approached the bed at a more sedate pace and dropped to her knees so that her face was on the same level as the rodent. "Hi, Mr. Huggles. I'm Lillian."

He squeaked back cautiously and then apparently decided to treat her the way he did Will: scrambling forwards and rubbing his furry flank against her cheek. It worked out the same way on Lillian: she giggled and rubbed at his other flank with one hand. (I'd frozen up and Will had to rescue me.)

"You'll probably be more comfortable up on the bed," I suggested after a moment and Lillian scrambled up onto the top of my sleeping bag without even looking back. Clearly I was reduced to furniture in comparison to the interest value of something small and furry. That worked out well for me so I could hardly complain. Instead I perched myself on the desk chair and opened the book Taranee had lent to me again. She and Hay Lin had agreed it was an absolute classic that I _had_ to read but I was finding it heavy going and there were another nine hundred or so pages to go.

About fifteen minutes later I put my bookmark about ten pages further on than it had been, kicked off my shoes and padded across to pull the duvet over Lillian. This babysitting was easier than it sounded.

Eyes turned to me as I went back into the lounge, shoes in hand. "She's asleep."

Mrs. Hale smiled slightly and rose. "Mind if I...?"

Mom followed her while I refilled my glass and asked if anyone else wanted some. Mr. Hale was back on soda, after his one glass of 'something stronger'.

"So you've never seen this Phobos?" he asked.

Will shook her head. "Just his work. I went into his garden once." She shuddered.

"His garden? What's so horrible there?"

"Actually it's strangely beautiful. Thousands upon thousands of black roses. But once you know that they were all people who tried to plead with him for mercy... and were transformed into a barrier around his palace..." Will wrapped her arms around herself. "You'll never look at a rose the same way again."

The dark mood broke as our mothers returned, Mrs. Hale holding her phone in one hand. "That was adorable," she announced. "You have great promise as a babysitter, Hope. Can I take you home with us? We'll leave Cornelia in exchange."

"Mother!"

"Not a chance," Mom answered before I could think of a response. She put one arm around my shoulder. "Right, Will?"

"Yep." Will boxed me in from the right side. "She's ours and we're not letting her go."

Mrs. Hale raised her phone and took a snapshot of us.

"I'll want a copy of that," Mom told her and got a nod. "And I think we're more or less up to speed on what the girls have been up to. The question is what now? The girls aren't too enthusiastic about telling the authorities."

...and there was the jaw of the trap closing around Cornelia. She might refuse pressure from Mom about demonstrating magic to the authorities, but what about her own parents? I wasn't sure.

"Well of course we must -"

"There would be problems with that," observed Mr. Hale.

Everyone else in the room blinked.

"Dear!"

"I can see the benefits of doing so - no offense, honey," he added to Cornelia, "But it would be bad enough if you were fighting a war as a grown woman, with professional training. On the other hand, telling the authorities about this won't necessarily make any of us any safer."

"What do you mean?" asked Mom cautiously.

He rubbed at his head. "Let's start with this: from everything that's been said, magic is both real and capable of things that at the moment our government could not reasonably protect themselves from. Which means that _other_ governments can't protect themselves from it either, correct?"

"You can't possibly be thinking that the government - _our_ government - would expect the girls to fight for them!? That sort of thing would belong in a bad TV series!"

"_Our_ government? Probably not. But there are a _lot_ of governments in the world and I imagine that several would want to have the girls working for them - or to be _sure_ that they weren't working against them. And Elizabeth, that means that you, Lillian and I would be potential ways for unscrupulous people to try to control Cornelia."

"Oh my god," whispered Mom.

"It's not as simple a decision as it seems, is it?" he asked kindly. "And of course the other side of the question is that if this Phobos does win through, then he's going to be a very big problem if the authorities _don't_ know about magic."

"Then we have to stop him." That was Will. "The Veil is keeping him on Meridian and as long as we can keep him from using the portals through it, he isn't a threat to the Earth."

"Caleb's resistance and Elyon should be able to take care of Phobos, particularly if we give them a little help," offered Cornelia.

Mom shook her head. "Meaning you go there again and you put yourselves at risk again?"

"We're at risk no matter what happens. At least this way we can put a stop to that."

Mrs. Hale crossed her arms. "Cornelia, you seem to put a lot of faith in this Caleb. What makes you so sure that he'll succeed?"

"He's won at least one battle and I think Elyon listens to him," I offered. "The trouble is that we don't really know what Phobos plans to do, much less if he can pull it off."

"Then maybe we ought to meet him as well," suggested Mr. Hale thoughtfully. "Would that be possible?"

"I..." Cornelia's cheeks were reddening.

"Oh _Cornelia_!" her mother exclaimed in realisation. "Don't tell me that you're _involved_ with this young man!"

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It felt a little strange to walk into Sheffield Institute next to Will. Our secret wasn't secret any more.

Mom had dropped us off, collecting Taranee on the way... and arranging to have dinner with the Cooks tonight.

"I hope this goes well," the dusky-skinned girl fretted. "My mother's going to be furious."

"The Lins were okay." Will was putting a good face on it I thought. Perhaps too good a face, I didn't think that Mr. Lin had been too happy about learning the secret that his mother and now his daughter had been keeping from him. Fortunately Mrs. Lin had insisted that she was proud of 'her daughter the superhero' even if she was far too young and wearing far too little.

"You don't know her like I do. I'll be lucky not to be packed off to a catholic boarding school! Or juvenile detention!"

"Oh, is the Judge's little princess getting in trouble?" The voice asking wasn't a welcome one but it was easily recognisable. "Well Nigel will be welcome back with his _real_ friends, even if you do tag along with him."

"Shut up Uriah."

The boy, backed by his usual bookends started his usual sneer but then he got a good look at us. "What the - there's two of you?"

I gestured at Will and Taranee. "There are three of us, Uriah. Try counting on your fingers."

"Smart-ass bitch!"

"Language, Mr. Dunn!" snapped the pompadoured woman who had arrived behind him. "Now get yourself to class... unless you'd rather start the term with a detention?"

The boy made a disgusted noise. "Whatever." His two remaining cronies fell in behind him.

"Now then, which one of you is Hope Vandom?" she asked slightly more pleasantly.

I raised my hand cautiously.

"I'm Principal Knickerbocker. Professor Collins told me to expect you. Getting into a quarrel on your first day isn't the best of starts here, whoever started it." She made a dismissive gesture towards the other two girls. "Off to your own classes, you two. I'll take care of your sister, Miss Vandom."

She waited until they were around a corner before moving towards the school offices. "Come with me, Miss Vandom. I imagine you've had some coaching?"

"I've been studying," I admitted nervously. For the few weeks that I had had a chance to that was true. But most of the students here had been at school for _years_. Was I kidding myself to think that I could do as well.

"That's good of course, but though I say so as shouldn't, there is more to school than studies. Don't take Mr. Dunn's behaviour as an example to follow or as cause to provoke trouble with him yourself."

I nodded obediently and made a mental note to check with Cornelia about what was proper behaviour in school. I had some idea of course, but it never hurt to consult an expert.

"Will!"

I turned my head slightly and saw Matt approaching around the corner. "Are you okay? Gramps was worried when you didn't..." He broke off sharply as he saw Principal Knickerbocker walking next to me. "Uh, sorry Principal, I just..."

"You were just on your way to class?" she asked with a slight emphasis on the last word.

"Uh..." he hesitated and then pulled an envelope out of his pocket and held it out to me. "Just giving Will this note on my way!" No sooner than my hand closed around it than he backed up, giving me an apologetic look.

"Um, I'm..."

But he was gone.

"I'm going to get this a lot, aren't I?"

To my surprise the middle-aged Principal chuckled. "At least until people get used to you," she agreed. "You can give your sister the note at lunch." Then she gestured at the door to one of the offices. "But first we've set up this room for you to take some written tests."

When I looked inside, a small desk like those in the classrooms had been set up with a stack of paper booklets on it. The other furniture had all been pushed back against the walls and there was a clock set up so that it was plainly visible from the desk.

"All the exam papers have the time you're supposed to spend on them written on the front page," Knickerbocker told me. "If you run out of time before finishing just move on to the next. If you finish one early then note down on the front how long it took you and you can start the next paper early or go back to have another look at anything you had trouble with - make a note on anything that you go back to about how long you put in."

"Isn't that cheating?"

She shook her head. Amazingly it didn't loosen the mass of silvery hair at all. "Not as long as you keep a record of it. Remember, this isn't about passing or failing, it's about measuring your strengths and weaknesses. Now, do you have everything you need?"

I pulled my pencil case out of the bookbag I'd brought with me. It was the only thing in it except for my packed lunch and now Matt's note for Will.

"Good." Knickerbocker pointed across the hall. "There's a washroom there that you can use if you need it. My secretary is in the next office along, if you need anything else just let her know."

I nodded to show my understanding and I was surprised when she held out her own hand. "Good luck, Miss Vandom," she said and shook my hand when took hers.

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"I don't know _anything_!" I declared with some despair, clutching at my head.

"Sounds normal to me." Irma reached over towards my lunch box and I slammed my fist down right in front of her hand to keep her from snagging my sandwich. "Well _you_ aren't eating it."

I picked it up and took a bite. Mmm. Chicken. Then I realised she'd used my distraction to filch a cookie out of the box and crammed it into her mouth. "I hope that goes right to your waist."

"Probably a little higher," she said smugly. She was probably right too, blast her.

"I'm sure you're doing fine," Will promised me. "Remember that history paper you did for Professor Collins? You did great at that!"

"Yeah, but then I had a week to research the Middle Ages," I pointed out. "I don't think the Principal will let me go to the library to research answers for everything on these test papers. I'm only managing to answer maybe half the questions."

"You're not supposed to answer all of them." Taranee toyed nervously with her braid. "Some of the questions are supposed to be too hard for us, so if you could answer all of them then it'd mean you were smarter than all of us."

"Well that's not going to happen." Will mussed my hair. "You might be better at class than I am, little sis, but there's no way you're smarter than Taranee."

"Lot of good that's doing me," the other girl sighed. "Remember me when Mom locks me up."

It wasn't until I put my lunch box away in my bag that I remembered Matt's note. "Will, something for you."

She took the envelope. "What is it?"

"Matt gave it to me earlier, he thought I was you."

"Hope!"

"I didn't get the chance to explain!"

"Never mind that, what's the note say?" demanded Cornelia.

Will peeled open the envelope and extracted the note. "..."

"What?"

"M-matt..."

"Yes, we know it's from Matt," I reminded her.

"He's inviting me to the Lodelyday!"

There were high pitched squeals from the other girls at the table. "That's awesome!" "Go Will!"

"The... Lodelyday?"

Cornelia leant over. "It's the coolest restaurant in all of Heatherfield. Will's got a date! And it sounds like Matt wants to do this in style."

"That's good, I guess." Hopefully not _too_ much style since presumably had the same expectations of restraint for Will that she had for me.

Irma reached over and nudged me. "Not jealous, are you?"

I thought about that. Was I jealous? I'd met Matt maybe two or three times. Nice guy but...

Voices were raised over by the door of the canteen - it wasn't warm enough for anyone but the hardiest to be eating outside today - and heads turned in that direction. Our heads included although Will remained rapt in the note until Hay Lin nudged her and whispered "It's Matt!"

It was indeed Matt. And Uriah.

"Well maybe she's going to need some comfortin'. Seeing as you ditched her."

Matt pushed back the brim of his hat and favoured Uriah with a bemused look. "Look, I don't know what you're talking about and I'm pretty sure you don't either..."

There was a nasty grin on Uriah's face. "Well if you were really serious about Vandom, you'd not have snuck a note to her sister, would ya?"

"Sister?"

Will grabbed my hand. "Hope?"

"Just that one, I swear," I said hastily. "And it's addressed to you, isn't it?"

She checked it. "Okay."

"I'm just _feeling_ the trust," I grumbled.

"Sorry, it's just... everything else seems to be going crazy..."

"Just don't blame _me_ if Mom hits the roof about him. Granted a date is a lot more _normal_ than everything else going on right now."

"There are really two of you?" Matt's face paled slightly as he looked between us, having approached during our conversation. "But which...?"

"Uh, Matt... I can explain..."

"...that'd be nice."

I rested my chin on one hand and pointed with the other. "That's Will, I'm her sister Hope. I didn't get a chance to explain that this morning."

He frowned. "Have we met before?"

"Er... a couple of times." Truthfulness was allegedly the best policy. "And yes, I _was_ pretending to be Will back then. So I guess I owe you an apology."

Matt sighed. "I hope there was a good reason."

"I was hiding." From Will, on one occasion, but that was beside the point. "And while Will trusts you, I barely know you. No offense."

"Alright." He looked over to Will. "Um. So, about..."

I cleared my throat. "One more thing."

"Oh?"

"If you hurt my sister, I will hurt you. Clear?"

"Hope!" Will's cheeks had gone almost as red as her hair.

Matt looked from me to Will, back to me. "Completely."


	7. Chapter 7

"I don't _believe_ that you said that."

"What isn't to believe?" I asked Will.

"But what if he changes his mind about our date?" she hissed nervously.

"If he changes his mind because of little old me then he clearly wasn't serious in the first place."

"What's this?" Mom asked, stepping out from the shelter of the gate between Sheffield Institute and the street.

"Mom?"

"I came by to pick you up - or did you forget that you're both grounded? Now what's this about someone changing their mind."

"Matt asked me out!" Will explained enthusiastically and then her face fell. "When I'm not grounded, that is."

Mom nodded, not without a bit of sympathy. "Well, at least you have something to look forward to. So why are you two falling out?"

"I just told him to behave himself."

That remark got a laugh from Mom and she held out her hand. "High five."

"What?"

"Oh, don't kids do that anymore?"

Will groaned. "Not you too, Mom!"

"Nothing against you dating, Will - normally anyway," she qualified. "But that doesn't mean giving boys free license either. It's just as well to let him know that you have standards: that way he'll feel obliged to live up to them."

We reached the car and Will paused. "Mom, Miss Rudolph asked us - the girls - to see her after school. I know I'm grounded, but this could be important."

"She's the teacher from Metamoor?" asked Mom suspiciously. "I've been meaning to talk to her, but we're meeting the Cooks tonight."

I coughed. "Could we talk about this in the car?" Without, for example, all the other Sheffield students who went past hearing about everything.

"Shotgun!" Will called suddenly and hopped into the front passenger seat.

"Eek!" I ducked down, hoping that whoever had the gun wasn't about to use it. I'd seen them on TV! They were scary!

Mom gave me a puzzled look and then sighed. "Not a real gun, Hope. She just means she wants to sit in the front."

"Well why didn't you just say so?" I asked Will as I climbed back to my feet. "I don't mind." Actually I'd been kind of hoping we could both sit up back so it would be easier to talk, but it wasn't a big deal.

Will shrugged apologetically. "It's kind of a thing. I didn't mean to scare you."

I climbed in and then across the back seat so that I was sitting behind Mom's seat. "Okay."

"Mom, I've _got_ to get together with the girls and see Miss Rudolph! The last time she called us like this it was because there was an invasion force about to come through one of the portals! We can see her before dinner easily!"

Seeing a gap in the traffic, Mom pulled out. "And what if it's a trap, Will? You should keep at least a couple of you back just in case."

"Miss Rudolph's not like that! She's harmless!"

"And what if someone's forcing her to do this?" Mom shook her head. "I really want to go with you on this..."

"But you've got to go back to work, don't you?"

"I know, Will. And I don't think my boss will be happy if I keep making excuses."

"Welcome to my life."

I couldn't help but laugh at the resigned look on Will's face, but the laugh cut off when she gave me a pained look. It was more true than it was funny, after all.

"Oh honey. I guess I didn't make it easy for you, did I?" Mom turned her head slightly. "And I expect you to be more supportive, Hope."

"Sorry," I mumbled in a small voice.

"Alright, can you call your friends. You can go to see Miss. Rudolph, but I want you to call me right before you go in to see her and as soon as you are done. And two of you should stay away - at the Cook's house might be best if Taranee's one of the two." Mom looked in the mirror. "Hope, I'm not going to make you stay home while your sister doesn't have to..."

"Thanks. Do you want me to come along?" I offered to Will.

She shook her head. "I'd rather you stayed with the Cooks. Maybe you can break the ice a little. Taranee's pretty worried about how they'll take learning about her being a Guardian. You're pretty good at talking people around."

I shrugged uncertainly. People I knew, maybe, but I'd never met Taranee's family. And was I really that manipulative?

W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.

"You had to hide away all through Christmas?" Taranee's older brother Peter shook his sadly. "That just ain't right!"

I shrugged. "Well there's always next Christmas. And then I get to give presents as well!" Mom had even dispensed _pocket money_ at the start of the week and I was looking for something special to give to Will on her birthday, which was only a couple of weeks away.

"Yeah, but you should be with family."

"I _was_." Okay, maybe with just Will, but right then she was my only declared family.

Peter rolled his eyes. "Sis, we gotta make sure this girl gets a proper Christmas next year so that she knows what she's missing out on."

Taranee nodded her head silently and her brother frowned. "Something wrong, sis?"

To my horror, the girl actually started to sniffle. "Mom's gonna _kill_ me."

Hay Lin, Peter and I all the same reaction and within two seconds she was being hugged from all directions. "Whatever it is, it can't be that bad," her brother assured her with complete confidence. "I mean... I think she's warming up to Nigel." He paused. "A little."

That at least got her out of the funk. "You're just trying to make me feel better."

"Is it working?"

Taranee shook her head in reply to my question and then with an appalled look on her face started giggling.

"Tickling _always_ works," Hay Lin declared sagely, fingers still probing at Taranee's sides.

I then made one of the classic errors of strategy. Right up there with going up against a Scilian when death is on the line. "Tickling?"

Hay Lin _grinned_ but it was Peter that started tickling my ribs. "Whaahahaahaa!" I shrieked, and moved my hands to cover that vulnerable area.

"Somebody's ticklish." He sounded terribly entertained by that notion.

"Hands to yourself, buster!" I grabbed a cushion from the couch and when he backed off, I slung it into his face.

"Ow!" He was laughing through. "Sorry."

"No, you're not."

"No, I'm not," Peter admitted cheerfully. He made to throw the cushion back into my face but when I tried to catch it he twisted his wrist and it thumped against my belly. "So, who wants a drink?"

We all agreed that that sounded like an idea and Hay Lin moved smoothly onto interrogating Taranee about her last date with Nigel, which seemed suitably distracting for her but didn't particularly interest me so I trailed after Peter to help him bring back the drinks.

"So do you know why she thinks Mom's going to flip her lid?" he asked quietly.

I nodded. "Well, I've never met your Mom but would you say she's a little bit protective of Taranee?"

Peter held his arms wide, palms towards each other. "Just a bit."

"Weeeeellll..." I hesitated. "We're... and I mean mostly the others - I'm helping as much as I can... we're..."

"In a band?"

"What? Uh. No."

"So what is it you're doing that Mom's going to be upset about?"

Now what was I supposed to tell him? I mean, we were going to tell him tonight, but the plan was to do that with the rest of the family.

"You girls aren't dating each other, are you?"

Blink. "Uh... I would think that us all being girls would make it obvious that we're not."

Peter flushed. "That was a joke," he said hastily. "So what's the big secret?"

"I suppose you could say that we're doing something -" I considered saying 'a little bit' and concluded it would be a lie. "- dangerous."

He paused very fractionally in pouring soda into a glass. "You mean like, roller-blading?"

I shook my head.

"Surfing?"

"No, although I'd like to try that some time." After I get some swimming lessons. One near-drowning experience was quite enough.

"It's a lot of fun," he assured me. "Uh... dressing up as Batman and Robin and fighting crime?"

"Well... you're getting closer." Whoever Batman and Robin were.

Peter laughed. "Okay, okay, I'll wait." He picked up two glasses and nodded towards the other two. "So sis," he called as he led the way back into the lounge. "What's your super-hero costume look like, Tara'?"

There was an embarrassed squeak from Taranee. "Hope!"

"He guessed."

Peter looked from her to me and then put the glasses down on the table. "Again, I was joking." He paused. "You _weren't_ joking?"

Taranee groaned. "Thanks Hope." She closed her eyes and focused for a moment. Swirls of orange magic burst into existence around her. It wasn't quite as dramatic as Will using the Heart of Kandrakar, and I suspected it wasn't quite as potent a transformation either... but it was quite enough.

The boy - young man really, he was about the age that the transformed Taranee appeared to be - sat down heavily. "Whoa. Is that you, little sister?"

I could see why he might have doubts: the normally demure girl's appearance was now - save for the glasses - far more warlike, with six stiff dreadlocks rising from her head and snug shorts and tank top that did nothing to hide her more mature figure. She looked _hot_ even before she conjured up a small ball of fire to hang in mid-air. "It's still me, big brother," she said firmly.

"You look... older. How in the world...?"

She folded her arms. "May as well call it magic, for all the explanation I got."

"And you're..." he gestured towards the fireball. "Taranee, you're _scared_ of fire."

"I was afraid of how much it drew me in." Taranee reached out and placed her hand fearlessly in the fireball, drawing an alarmed cry from Peter. When pulled her hand back it showed no mark at all. "I don't have to be afraid anymore."

"Maybe not of fire." He rubbed at his hair (which was bound into hundreds of dreadlocks and then lashed back in a ponytail) and then moved up to give her a hug. "I don't suppose that your new outfit is bulletproof is it?"

Hay Lin laughed. "Metamoor doesn't have any guns!"

"Who is Metamoor?"

Hay Lin and Taranee looked at me questioningly. "Hey, I didn't have _time_ to tell him everything."

"Metamoor is another world," Taranee explained. "It's kind of medieval but they've got magic and there's a Veil that prevents travel between there and Earth. We're the Guardians of the Veil - our mission is to close portals that form in the Veil. So magic's more of a problem then guns."

Peter rolled his eyes. "Well that's much better... not. I suppose that you have magical costumes too?" he added, pointing at the two of us.

Hay Lin nodded happily, pony-tails bobbing. "Air!" she exclaimed and silvery magic replaced her blouse, sweater and skirt with her own W.I.T.C.H. outfit.

"Wow," he said appreciatively. "So I guess that means that if Taranee's Fire and you're Air that there's some sort of element thing going on? So what does that make you, Hope? Water?"

"I, uh, don't do that," I admitted.

"Too bad, I bet you'd have a cute costume as well."

I went red and Taranee picked up the cushion, throwing it at her brother's face. She pegged him squarely, sending him staggering. "Wow, nice throwing arm!"

"Were you _flirting_ with Hope?" she accused. "She's too young for you!"

I'm not too young! Wait, what am I _thinking_!

Peter laughed and pulled lightly on one of Taranee's dreadlocks. "She's about your age isn't she? Does that mean that you're too young to be seeing Nigel? 'Cause that'd make Mom real happy."

"She's not even two months old, Peter!"

"Um, what?"

This fascinating conversation was curtailed when a car pulled into the drive. Taranee turned and looked out the window. "Dad's back early," she squeaked and reverted to her usual self. "And Mom's with him!" The ball of fire vanished.

"Why change back?" asked Peter. "I thought you were gonna explain all this?"

"Yeah, I just want to break it to them easily." She waved at Hay Lin frantically and the other girl shifted back before the front door opened.

"Peter? Taranee?"

"In here, Dad!" Peter called and a moment later the Cooks joined us in the front room.

"Hi kids," Mr. Cook greeted them. He hugged Taranee and then Peter. "Nice to see you, Hay Lin. And... hmm, Will or Hope?"

"Hope," his wife told him, giving Taranee a hug of her own. "Are your family here already?"

"No... Will's seeing Miss Randolph after school and Mom's still at work."

Taranee peered up at her mother, adjusting her glasses and then touched Mrs. Cook's face. "Mom, are you okay? You look kinda pale."

She kissed Taranee's forehead. "I'm a little nervous dear. Your father and I have been talking."

Hay Lin looked at me and I spread my hands slightly. "Do you want us to step outside a moment? If this is a family thing?"

The two adults exchanged looks and then Mrs. Cook shook her head. "No, actually it might be best... Particularly for you to be here Hope."

I pointed at myself. Me? Particularly? I'd only even met her once, this morning!

Mr. Cook waved to the couch. "You might want to sit down," he said mildly. "This may come as a little bit of a shock."

"I sort of doubt it," Peter said, perching on the arm of the sofa and draping one arm over Taranee's shoulders supportively. "At least compared to what else I've been hearing today." Hay Lin sat next to the girl and I perched myself next to her, clasping my hands nervously.

"I... I don't know where to begin," Mrs. Cook admitted after a moment's thought.

Mr. Cook put one hand on her shoulder. "Perhaps at the beginning. About... thirteen years ago, a little before Peter's fifth birthday there was a terrible fire on the outskirts of Heatherfield. No one knows how it started and fortunately, no one was killed. One of the houses destroyed belonged to a young couple and their three-month old baby. She was upstairs in the house when the fire started and it consumed the stairs, so they couldn't get in and find her."

"The firemen arrived barely in time. Fortunately the little girl's crib was right above a support beam and the floor held together just long enough for one of them to get in and rescue her." Mr. Cook smiled slightly. "I used to volunteer to help the Fire Brigade back then and I knew him well. He told me afterwards that she was fast asleep the whole time. It was quite the miracle."

"The thing was," Mrs. Cook added, "There was something wrong with their insurance. The fire had destroyed everything the family had, there were just the three of them and the clothes that they were standing in. They'd even lost their jobs to the fire because the shop they worked at had been in the same neighbourhood." She closed her eyes. "They made what must have been the hardest decision of their lives: they couldn't support their daughter, so they gave her up for adoption."

"Whoa, wait on!" Peter exclaimed. He looked down at Taranee and I saw his arm tighten around her. "You're kidding me. You can't possibly mean what I think you do."

Taranee stared. "Peter?"

"Three months before my fifth birthday, that means the baby would have been born in March '89. The same as you, sis..."

Mrs. Cook dropped to her knees in front of Taranee and took her hands. "Taranee, the baby _was_ you."

My friend shook her head in denial and her jaw worked for a moment as she searched for words. What emerged was a shocked tiny: "no."

"But - but there are baby photos!" Peter exclaimed. "I've _seen_ them."

His father shook his head. "We knew that one day Taranee would be old enough to know, but until then we didn't want her to feel there was any part of her life she'd missed out on. The earliest pictures are of another little girl, Audrey, one of her friends back in Sesamo."

"You _lied_ to me!"

"We always knew we'd tell you some day," Mr. Cook explained. "It just... needed the right moment. With Susan making arrangements to adopt Hope, this seemed... as good a time as there was ever going to be."

Taranee burst to her feet. "I... I can't..." she blurted and brushed her mother aside, rushing for the door. A second later we heard her feet on the stairs.

"Taranee!" Hay Lin ran after her while the Cooks looked torn.

"I guess I was wrong about you shocking me," Peter said after a moment. He rose to his feet. "I'm going upstairs too..."

Mrs. Cook took refuge in her husband's arms. "She hates us..."

"I don't think so..."

Their heads snapped around and I realised they'd basically forgotten I was even there. And that I was intruding on what was a private moment. Still, what could I do but continue?

"She's _angry_ with you... that's not the same thing."

He gave me a rueful look. "I hope you're right."

"If you don't mind my saying so, Taranee seems a lot like you, Mrs. Cook."

"Call me Theresa, please."

I nodded. "Theresa. I'm guessing you've been fretting all day about how Taranee would react to this."

She ducked her head. "Good guess."

"Taranee's been in about the same state since Friday. There's... a little something she's going to tell you... well, maybe not today. And she's been worrying about how you'll take it so I know what it looks like. Oddly enough there's a fire in this story too."

Theresa blinked. "Really? Don't tell me this is about the gym at Sheffield Institute burning down!"

"Well..." I checked my recollection of the others telling me about that. "No, well... I suppose that fire's part of the story but I don't think she was anywhere near it." Before she could ask more I held up my hand. "We're getting away from my point. What I'm trying to say is: can you imagine _anything_ she could tell you that would stop you from loving her?"

"Of course not! She's my daughter!"

I spread my hands. "Exactly. Upset with you, certainly. Angry... well, understandably. Hate?" I shook my head. "I think I'll wait outside."

Before I could stand we heard footsteps on the stairs. After a moment, Hay Lin stuck her head around the door. "She let Peter in to her room. I'm..." She shrugged. "I'm sorry, I don't know what to do."

"I think we'll need to give them some time to get used to the idea," Mr. Cook said quietly. "Peter didn't know either so she has no reason to be angry with him. If anyone can help her now..."

I stated what I was beginning to recognise as one of the great truths: "Being helpless _sucks_."

"Succinctly put," he concurred and sighed. "I guess we still have to get ready for dinner. I guess this wasn't exactly what your mother had in mind when we set things up."

"Well not in detail..."

"Pardon?" he asked.

"Never mind, just thinking out loud." I corrected myself. "Let me give you a hand with that."

W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.

Will tapped on the door to Taranee's room. "Can we come in?"

There was a pause and then the door cracked open. There was a smile on her face, a weak one, but still a smile. "Hi Will."

"Hope told me... I'm sorry."

For a moment I could have sworn that there was an aura of fire around Taranee but when I blinked it was gone. "I can't believe that they'd keep a secret this important from me."

Peter moved up and rested his hands on Taranee's shoulders. She tensed a moment and then leant back against him.

"Like mother, like daughter."

"What!?" Taranee practically erupted into my face, sending me back-pedalling towards the stairs, the angry girl practically spitting as she demanded: "How can you say that!?" Her hands slammed against my chest and a second later I felt the rail of the stairs against my back.

A strong hand caught my wrist just as I realised that one of my heels was hanging in mid-air over the top stair. Peter pushed himself between the pair of us, his other hand on Taranee's shoulder. "Let's not have an accident here."

"But she..."

Will pulled on her other shoulder. "She was out of line, I agree! But she's the only sister I've got!"

"_She's not your sister_!" Taranee screamed.

Only Peter's faster reactions kept my hands off Taranee. "That is _enough_!" he roared. I swear the windows almost shook and I heard a door slam open downstairs. Turning his back towards me, he hauled Taranee up onto his shoulder, pinning her arms.

Will half-tackled me, pushing me against the wall. "Don't try anything Hope."

"I - she..." I spluttered and then hung my head. This wasn't what I'd wanted. I could feel tears beginning to form at the corners of my eyes but I could also see Taranee tearing up as Peter carried her into her room. "I'm sorry."

"What's going on up there?" Theresa called up the stairs.

Will pulled me down the stairs. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Cook. I think Hope and Taranee managed to hit each other's hot buttons."

"I think I heard the result." She crossed her arms and stared at me for a moment before shaking her head. "Perhaps I should have told her before now."

"What were you thinking?" Will asked me irritably.

I rubbed my face. "Look, whoever her birth parents are, Taranee acts a lot like... well, like you Theresa. From my point of view that makes you her mom. Except... Oh man, I guess I'm coming from _exactly_ the opposite direction that Taranee is!"

"I suppose you are," Theresa agreed sadly. "Maybe we'd better just give her more time."

"We don't _have_ all that much time."

Theresa and I both looked at Will in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Miss Rudolph had some interesting things to say."

Her words didn't meant all that much to Theresa. "I'm sorry, you mean Taranee's math teacher?"

She nodded but didn't take her attention away from me. "Cornelia and her parents are going to help Irma break this to her parents. We need to go to Metamoor in the next day or two."

"What in the world are you two girls talking about?"

Will looked at Hay Lin, who had followed Theresa out into the hall. "Could you ask Taranee to come down please." Then she turned her head to me. "No clever remarks. She's got enough to deal with."

"Girls..."

"I'll explain in a moment," Will assured her. "But I don't want to go over this more than once. Can we go into the lounge?"

Theresa huffed and walked into the room ahead of us. "Lionel, the girls want to tell us something."

It took a minute or two for Hay Lin and Peter to arrive, Taranee trailing behind them. Our eyes met briefly as she walked into the room and then she turned her head aside.

*I'm sorry,* I thought.

I had no idea if she would hear it, but she did and her response had a bitter taste to it. *Sorry for what?*

*Sorry that I made you mad.*

*You don't even know _why_ I'm angry.*

That gave me pause. Why was she angry? Because I'd referred to Theresa as her mother? Or because I'd said they were alike? *Maybe I don't.* Or was it something else?

"Is anyone going to say something?" asked Theresa. Her eyes, like her husband's were focused on their daughter.

Peter put one reassuring hand around Taranee and she looked up at him gratefully. "It's going to be okay, little sis," he assured her.

"Alright." Taranee straightened. "As Hope _rather pointedly_ reminded me, I've been keeping a secret from you too... Mom. Dad."

I could practically see the fear drain out of the couple at those last two words. "Whatever it is, Taranee, we'll deal with it as a family," her father promised.

"I guess it started at Halloween," Taranee began. "I told you about the whole mess with the fireworks in the great pumpkin..." She paused as if expecting a comment and looked at her Mom.

Theresa bit her lip slightly but nodded for Taranee to go on.

"Well you remember that I said that the fireworks almost hit Irma and Will." Taranee bit her lip and then blurted: "I stopped them."

Mr. Cook's brow furrowed. "You stopped Will and Irma?"

"No Dad. I stopped the _fireworks_. Like this:" She reached out her hand commandingly. "And a rocket stopped in mid-air. The flames were exploding towards Will and I just... pushed them away from her."

"But surely you were imagining it? It was a stressful situation..."

Taranee gestured and little balls of fire appeared in the air in front of each of us. "I must have a really good imagination if you can see these, Mom."

"Oh my god."

While his wife was content to whisper in shock, Mr. Cook reached out and lightly brought his fingers into contact with the fireball before him. "It's warm," he observed. "But it's not burning me."

"Well I wanted these to be safe," Taranee said defensively. "Anyway, that night we all saw the Heart of Kandrakar in our dreams." She turned to Will. "Show them."

Will produced the Heart, holding it up so that they could all see it.

"Okay, I see it, but..."

Will interrupted Peter with a firm: "Guardians, unite!"

The magic was different this time. Seeing it twice in relatively close succession let me compare and it wasn't only the addition of the pink colour of the magic that engulfed my sister that was different. The colours were brighter and it... _felt_ stronger somehow. I didn't have the words for it. I wasn't entirely sure I should be able to feel it that way.

As if it was calling to me.

And then there were three Guardians of the Veil in the room.

Theresa crossed the room to her children, almost in a daze, and touched Taranee's cheek gently. "Is that... is that you, Taranee?"

"Yes Mom, it's still me." She reached back and suddenly they were hugging each other. Now I know why my Mom wanted a photo of her with Will and I. Unfortunately - or fortunately given what Taranee currently looked like - I didn't have a camera to hand.

"You're growing up," Theresa told her.

Mr. Cook joined them, giving Peter a nod and what I presume was a manly slap on the shoulder before wrapping his arms around his wife and daughter.

"So what did Miss Rudolph tell you?" I asked.

Will shook her head. "Not now, Hope."

Peter slipped out of the room briefly and returned with a small black bag which he unzipped to reveal a camera. It only took him a moment to snap shots of his family and then he turned sharply and caught the three of us on camera.

"Hey!" protested Will.

"You want to take some?" he asked with a grin. "Make sure to get my good side." He handed her the camera and then stood behind his mother, one hand ruffling Taranee's dreadlocks.

Will smirked and then took a few photos herself before putting down the camera. "Do you want to take the couch?" she suggested. "There's still quite a bit of the story to tell."

It seemed like a reasonable solution so the four of them crammed onto the piece of furniture, Taranee in the middle, flanked by her parents. Peter lent over the back, behind Theresa and Taranee.

"Hay Lin's grandmother recognised what we'd seen," Will said softly. "She gave us the Heart and told us that we had been chosen as the Guardians of the Veil. She didn't exactly give us much in the way of details - sorry, Hay Lin."

The other Guardian looked away for a moment. "Grandma was a Guardian as well, when she was our age," she explained.

Mr. Cook tilted his head in thought. "I think I recall..." His face tightened slightly. "Was it her funeral that Taranee attended about a week later?"

Hay Lin nodded sadly. "She's in a better place."

Kandrakar, if I recalled correctly what Will had told me about the Guardians' one brief trip there. How that worked, I wasn't sure. Maybe it was a Guardian thing.

"Honestly we didn't have any idea what we were supposed to do. But then Elyon asked us to go along for morale support while she met a boy at the school gym. Hay Lin and I went along, so did Irma. But Elyon wasn't there. Instead we were ambushed by two... people from Metamoor." Will's eyes had a faraway look. "They knew we were the Guardians and told us that with us out of the way they could break through the Veil to Earth, and then every other world in the universe."

"Then Will transformed us and we fought back," Hay Lin added. "We closed the portal they were using and escaped them!"

Theresa looked at her thoughtfully. "And the gym got burned down, I believe?"

"Well that wasn't us! I'm Wind and Irma is Water!"

"We don't know how the fire started exactly. Maybe it was Cedric or Vathek," speculated Will. "The point is we still didn't know what was going on. We knew we were different and we knew that some people were out get us because of that. Elyon had vanished without a trace and so had her family."

Mr. Cook pulled Taranee against him. "Why didn't you tell us, sweetheart?"

"I didn't know how you'd react... it never seemed like the right time..." she mumbled and then gave me an accusing look.

I held my hands up defensively. "Not saying anything! Not saying anything at all!"

"Taranee, if someone's trying to hurt you - if someone _does_ hurt you - you need to tell us! What if something happened and we didn't know you needed help?"

"Something did," she said in a small voice.

"What happened?" Theresa took Taranee's hands between hers.

"Frost - he's one of Cedric's henchmen - captured me." Taranee's voice was trembling. "They locked me in a tower, told me that my friends had abandoned me. After the first few days I was afraid they were telling the truth... they showed me everyone going on with their lives..."

"That's impossible! You never went missing! I can't think of a single day since we moved to Heatherfield that I didn't see you, Taranee!"

I coughed awkwardly. "I guess this is where my story begins."

"How do you mean?"

"We can create what we call Astral Drops," Will explained. "They're not exact copies of us, but they can be very very close. When Taranee was captured she told me to get the others away, not risk the rest of us being captured by the same trap. Once we were back on Earth I created an Astral Drop of her, to hide her disappearance. And as soon as we found another portal into Metamoor so we could go after her, we created Astral Drops of ourselves so that no one would know we were gone." She looked down. "We didn't know that time moves faster in Metamoor. For us, Taranee was only a prisoner for a couple of days. But for her it was weeks."

"Who did this? Who are these people?" snapped Peter. "Cedric, Vathek, Frost!"

"Cedric's this giant snakeman who works for Phobos, the ruler of Metamoor," WIll explained. "He can look normal though, so he's usually the one we find on Earth. Vathek's a big blue man. He used to act as muscle for Cedric but about a month ago he joined the rebels that are fighting to overthrow Phobos."

"He can be a pretty nice guy," I added. "He must have been scary when he was working for Cedric, because he's huge."

Hay Lin nodded energetically. "He was, but he's much nicer now."

"Anyway, Frost's full name is Frost the Hunter. We haven't seen him since Vathek changed sides, I don't know if he's still on their side or not." Will shrugged. "There are probably more we haven't met."

Taranee grimaced. "You're forgetting Elyon."

"You really think she's on his side? If she's asking the rebels for help then that must mean that she's not believing everything Cedric tells her anymore."

"I thought that Elyon was your friend who went missing?"

"She's also Phobos' sister," explained Will. "Her family brought her to Earth to hide from him, but when Cedric convinced her to go back she worked with him."

Taranee's hands tightened, causing her mother to squeak in surprise at the strength of the girl's grip. "Sorry Mom. It's just... she was my jailor when they had me prisoner."

"And we didn't even realise," Mr. Cook said guiltily.

"That was kind of the idea," Will pointed out gently. "We didn't want you to worry..."

"So where do you come in?" Peter asked me.

Theresa sighed. "Honestly, Peter. Isn't it obvious? She's Will's Astral Drop."

"You are?"

I felt my cheeks burning and ducked my head. Will put her hand on my shoulder.

"She's more than that," I heard Taranee say. "She's Will's sister." My head jerked up and she smiled slightly in my direction. *I was out of line too.* Her thought was flavoured with shame.

"Does that mean that all of you still have identical twins running around?"

Now that was a scary thought. "No, I'm the only one left."

"Hope's different," Will explained. "Taranee's right. Where the other Astral Drops were... part of the girls, I'd not imprinted myself on her, so she... moulded herself into her own person. By the time we got back from Metamoor, not even two days had passed and..."

"And I wasn't prepared to just be part of her."

My sister looked at me and nodded. "I'm not sure _I'd_ be the same person if I absorbed her back into me. And I think I'd be losing her forever."

I reached out and took her hand.

"You must have made quite an impression," Theresa told me. "Just like Taranee did on us."

"I did?"

Her mother kissed her brow. "As soon as we saw you, we knew that we wanted you to be part of our family. We weren't even planning to adopt until then."

"We just fell in love," Mr. Cook agreed.

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Dinner was rather disjointed because we were still eating the main course when a police car pulled up outside. A moment later the doorbell rang and Mr. Cook opened it to Irma's father.

"Mrs. Cook. Mrs. Vandom." He looked at the rest of us - the three Guardians had resumed their everyday appearances - and words appeared to fail him so he simply nodded sharply. From behind him, Irma gave us an apologetic shrug and Cornelia rolled her eyes. "Irma's had an interesting story to tell."

"I imagine that we've just heard the same one," Mr. Cook told him. "Come in and sit down. Peter, get some more chairs."

"I'd rather stand."

"You'll look rather foolish, but as you please," Theresa told him firmly. "Girls?"

Irma looked in the direction of the food on the table but her father gave her a reproving look. "Alright, perhaps we should sit down," he agreed gruffly, taking off his hat.

We all shuffled around the table, making room for them. Cornelia slipped into place between Peter and I. "He's not taking it well?" I asked.

"You think?" she asked with her usual cool.

"I do get that impression."

"You know, lying to the police is technically an offense," Mr. Lair grumbled, glaring at me for a moment.

Mom shoved her chair back and rose to her feet. "I'll thank you not to threaten my daughter, officer."

"It applies to you just as much as it does her. How long have you known about this?"

"Since Friday." She crossed her arms. "And if you think you're upset about it, imagine how I felt when I found my daughter had a secret twin sister and that a giant blue man had snuck into their bedroom."

"A... giant blue man? Irma, you seem to have skipped over a few details."

"I'm not answering until my lawyer is here," his daughter protested.

"You're thirteen, you don't _have_ a lawyer. This is serious, not some fairy tale."

"Hope can be my lawyer! She's super-qualified when it comes to winning arguments!"

"I'm not sure if I was just complimented or insulted... what's a lawyer?"

"There's rather more to being a lawyer than that," Mr. Cook told her firmly and placed a plate in front of her. "Now stop eyeing other people's food and eat your own."

"You don't have to..." Mr. Lair started.

"Irma's been here before."

"That doesn't mean you have to enable her... I don't know where she puts it all," the police sergeant sighed as Irma dug her fork into the food and scooped up a mouthful.

"Look if we're all here and more or less on the same page, can you finally tell me what Miss Rudolph wanted?"

Will sighed. "I suppose so. Apparently Phobos has set a date for Elyon's coronation and it's soon. Only two weeks from now in Metamoor so we'll have to go soon if we're going to do something about it."

"Do we want to do something?" Hay Lin asked. "I mean, Elyon's going to become a queen! I've never known anyone important before!"

"I'm not saying we want to stop it, but Miss Rudolph is concerned that Phobos is up to something. It's kind of hard to believe that after everything he's done that he's going to just hand over power to Elyon, no matter how much everyone in Meridian wants him to."

"So this is the 'evil prince' that Irma told me about?" asked Mr. Lair. "Because it sounds as if none of you have even met him. If his sister really was kidnapped when she was a baby, how do you know you're getting the real story from these rebels?"

"You're right, we haven't met him." Will paused and shook her head. "But I've met his victims. He's imprisoned hundreds of people and transformed thousands of them when they protested. And he wants to come here and do the same."

"Then why is he going to hand over his throne to Elyon?"

"If he does then the problem's solved. But if he's got something else in mind, then this might be our last chance to find out and stop it. That's why we're going to leave for Metamoor tomorrow."

I couldn't make out a word that was said in response because it seemed like everyone at the table seemed to be speaking at once. I felt as if I was frozen. If she was right then one way or another this might be the last time they had to fight against Phobos... but if he was desperate then he might do anything and none of us knew what he was capable of. What if my sister and our friends were turned into nothing more than more flowers in his garden?

Will didn't say anything in response to the babble. She just looked around the table, meeting everyone's eyes one at a time. When she looked at me, I tried to hide my trepidation. She didn't need that. I blinked away the moisture at the corners of my eyes and nodded slightly in what I hoped would be understood as reassurance.

One by one they fell silent.

"If all goes well, we'll be back sometime on Wednesday or Thursday." Will lowered her face slightly. "If we'll be welcome."

"I'm going with you."

Every head jerked around.

"Mom, it's too dangerous."

"Funny," Mom told Will. "That's about how I feel about you going to Metamoor. Let's try this: I'll stay home if you do." Then she winked at me.

Argh! She was using the same argument I had used about that glass of wine! Wasn't there a rule!

"Mom, this is way too important."

"What's wrong with my seeing Metamoor? After all, you're willing to risk your life for it, so it must be pretty special."

"I'm going too," Peter threw in. "There's no way I'm letting my little sister go to another world alone, not if she got captured last time."

"First time," muttered Taranee. "Not last time."

"You have school," their mother reminded them.

"And you have to go work," Will hastily reminded Mom.

"My daughters are more important than work."

"And you have to look after Hope!"

I stood up. "You think _I'm_ staying behind?"

Thomas Lair buried his face in his hands. "You're all nuts and Irma -"

I saw Irma clasp her hands together in prayer.

"- you be careful okay."

*Irma!* Taranee shrieked mentally. *Did you just mind control your dad!?*

*Maybe a little...*

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There was a ringing noise the next morning, far too early. Will and I collided trying to get to the alarm clock with the result that I rolled off the bed, fortunately taking a pillow with me. When Will hit snooze I jammed the pillow under my head and tried to go back to sleep.

Why hadn't the ringing stopped?

We both gave the clock accusing looks.

"It's not me!" the machine protested. "It's the phone."

"Sorry," Will apologised.

I jammed the pillow over my head to muffle the sound and soon it blessedly went away.

Two minutes later the alarm really did go off. Some days you just can't win. When you're a teenager, that's Monday through Friday most weeks. Will shut it off and I reversed the pillow. Ah, peace and quiet.

"You need to get up," Will told me as she pushed her duvet aside.

"No I don't." I rolled over. "_I_ don't have to go to school today."

Will opened the door.

"Morning Will," Mom said brightly. "Could you wake your sister? Miss Knickerbocker called to let me know Hope can start school today."

I sat up. "I passed the tests?"

"Well, sort of. Based off your results you're a year behind Will. That fits with your thirteenth birthday having been a couple of months ago, so I guess you're officially the younger sister." She smiled up at me. "Now get up before..."

"Dibs on the bathroom," Will called and dashed past Mom in that direction.

"What?" I exclaimed.

Mom laughed. "I think she's been waiting her own life for that. Why don't you go and hammer on the door so that she feels she's getting the authentic older sister experience."

"Why would she want me to do that?" I unzipped the sleeping bag. "There's a perfectly good sink in the kitchen."

"You'll need a shower as well. And isn't your toothbrush..." She paused. "You do have your own toothbrush? I never thought..."

I nodded towards the shelf that now housed my personal effects. My toothbrush occupied a small glass jar next to my hairbrush. "I'm fully provided for."

"Toothpaste?"

"...ah." I scrambled up, ran to the bathroom and knocked on the door. "Will! I need the toothpaste!"

"I'll just be a minute!" she called back and I heard the shower turn on.

Mom put her arms around me from behind. "Why don't we go get breakfast while Will's in the shower? Are you looking forward to school?"

"Just as long as I don't have..." Mr. Collins. "...history first thing."

Mom saw through that evasion rather easily. "It's a Tuesday, dear. _Will_ has history first thing so Dean can hardly be teaching your class at the same time. I'd better drive you both to school, you'll want to get there early enough to get your schedule from the school office."

There were croissants, which we buttered and put in the microwave while I hesitated over the fruit bowl and eventually selected an orange. I still couldn't quite work up the nerve to eat another banana. Will's croissant was cool by the time she got out of the shower but I had to bolt what was left of mine to use the bathroom and get dressed in time for school, so I suppose we were more or less even.

Before we got in the car, Mom had us set aside two of Will's most weatherproof coats and pack the pockets with a few essentials. "I'll pick up some food for us on my lunch break," she told us as we carried the coats down to the car. "Do you know how we'll get to Metamoor?"

"The only open portal we've come across that isn't closed is under Elyon's house," Will replied. "But there's at least one more. Hay Lin says she has a way to find it."

"Oh? And what if you don't find it?"

"Then we'll have to risk the police catching us at Elyon's." Will grimaced. "I can _probably_ sneak the five of us past them, but you, Hope and Peter I'm not sure about."

Mom's face was unyielding. "Then we will find a way."

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"So how's school treating you?" asked Cornelia.

"No problem with classes," I told her, warming my hands around one of the mugs of hot chocolate Cornelia had recommended we buy given the chilly weather. "Although I think something's wrong with Uriah."

"Uriah? Why?"

"Because he _smiled_ when he saw me on my way here. I figured that after yesterday, and what the Principal said this morning, that he'd be mad."

Will finished taking a big gulp from her mug. "What happened this morning?"

"Oh," I waved one hand dismissively before putting it back on the warm mug. "He said something about me being held back a year and she was right behind him. Said that if he didn't work harder then he might be in the same class as me next year. Not a happy thought."

"Not for either of you," my sister agreed. She looked around and saw that no one was paying attention to us. "So, Hay Lin?" she asked in a quieter voice. "How do you plan to find the portal?"

The pig-tailed girl reached into her pocket and pulled out a large and rather worn handkerchief. "Vathek wore his hankie out last week, he was sneezing so much, so I lent him mine and told him I could clean his."

"You're doing his laundry? Hay Lin, you're getting all domestic with the guy!"

"I'm just being nice, Irma! And now be quiet. I can recall memories from sounds. This hankie will tell us where it's been..."

"...and when we find out, we'll also know where Vathek crossed through! Great idea, Hay Lin!"

"Just one problem," pointed out Irma. "The hankie's made of cloth. It's not going to make any noise."

"Oh yes it will," Hay Lin told her, holding it in both hands.

"Uh, no it won't."

"Sorry Vathek," Hay Lin mumbled sadly and pulled her hands sharply apart. There was a ripping noise and part of the hankie tore. For moment she just stared into space and then she blinked. "...oh! Now I see it. It's the old carnival - Vathek arrived through a portal at the abandoned amusement park just outside Heatherfield."

"Are you sure?" asked Will just as the bell went.

"Totally! I can practically still see it!"

"Huh?" Irma looked up at the bell and then checked her watch. "The bell's early. We still have ten minutes left for lunch."

"All students are to report to the courtyard," a voice announced over the tannoy. "Principal Knickerbocker has an announcement to make."

"An announcement?" Irma muttered as we gathered our coats and left the canteen. "I think that power has finally gone to her head."

Cornelia looked over towards the steps into the main building where Miss Knickerbocker was standing, hands on hips, next to a pudgy boy I thought I might have seen in passing on a previous visit to the school. "I don't think so, Irma. Something must be really wrong. Look at her face."

Frankly I was almost scared to. The elderly teacher was obviously furious. "Something very serious has happened," she announced. "Someone has truly disappointed me, by stealing a watch belonging to your classmate David Berlin." She gestured towards the boy next to her. "Nothing like this has _ever_ happened before in my school! I should call the police to report this incident... but I'm not going to do that!"

She crossed her arms. "I would like to hope that the peson responsible for this will think carefully about what he or she has done and will see to it that the watch is returned to its rightful owner. Now I'm going to return to my office and you will go straight to your classes, but one thing is certain: I want that watch on my desk tomorrow morning! I've always had great trust in all of you, and I would like to continue to do so... but this doesn't depend on me!"

The Principal turned to leave but then paused. "And remember that if anyone know something, if anyone has seen something and doesn't speak up, they are just as _guilty_ as the thief."

"Why would anyone steal a watch?" I asked, looking down at the little plastic one on my wrist.

"Some watches are expensive," explained Cornelia, with a subtle flash of the slim metal band of hers. "It'd be really pathetic though."

Ahead of us, there was an indignant shout from a familiar voice. "Look through my backpack!" Uriah shouted. "Open my locker!"

"Calm down," a shocked Miss Knickerbocker tried to pacify the ginger-haired boy. "You shouldn't take it like this..."

There was no stopping him though, as we moved into the hall I saw him catch hold of his hanger-on Kurt by the jacket. "Open yours up too!" he demanded. "'Cause we're the bad guys, aren't we? Everything that happens around here is always our fault! So go ahead and take a look!" He flipped the door to a locker open and shook it so that the contents spilled out onto the floor."

"Wow, I actually feel sorry for Uriah," Irma exclaimed.

"I didn't want to offend you," the Principal offered, clearly taken aback. "I apologise if you thought that..."

"No Ma'am!" Uriah turned aggressively towards her. "If you suspected me, then you have to suspect _everyone_. Come on, you guys," he demanded of everyone else. "What are you afraid of? Open up _your_ lockers."

There was a rustle of reluctant murmuring. It _was_ Uriah, after all. Still, he wasn't exactly wrong and a moment later the dam broke with people moving to their lockers and opening padlocks. I supposed I'd need to get one of those for mine. Speaking of which...

I flicked the door open and was surprised to see something tumble out. All I had in there so far was a couple of text books and this was too small...

"Well look at that," drawled Uriah.

"Well it's a watch, alright," I agreed. This... was not good. I reached down and paused before I touched it. "Principal, would you mind coming over here?"

"That's my watch!" called out David.

"Well it's certainly not mine," I agreed.

"Hope?" asked Will. "How did that get in there?"

"Well I doubt it walked there on its own." I wished I had her power to talk to devices. Heck, I wished Hay Lin had been closer, she might have been able to tell from it hitting the floor who'd put it there.

Miss Knickerbocker's hand fell firmly on my shoulder. "Come to my office, Hope."

"Sure." Something crossed my mind. "But first, if someone wouldn't mind getting a bag for the watch."

"What are you talking about?"

"They're called... fingerprints, wasn't it?" I ask Martin, who was watching us with a pale face. The boy was something a font of knowledge.

"What?"

I folded my arms. "Anyone could have put this in my locker, it's not like I have a padlock for it. And if there are fingerprints matching anyone but David... then that finger belongs who whoever put it there."

"What if you were wearing gloves?" accused Uriah.

"I don't see that that makes me any worse off."

"My office, Miss Vandom." The Principal's voice was very grim. "And all the rest of you, off too class. That means you too, Will."

I saw my sister pulling out her cellphone as she obeyed.


	8. Chapter 8

Miss Knickerbocker gestured for me to sit in one of the chairs facing her desk. "I'll call your mother in a moment, Hope. I hope you understand that this looks quite bad for you."

"That has crossed my mind."

"So let's start at the beginning. Did you take David's watch?" She'd bagged the stolen watch as I requested and it now lay on the desk between us.

"I did not."

She nodded. "Do you know who did?"

I shook my head. I was beginning to have suspicions... but that was all that they were.

"And, just for the record, do you have any idea how the watch came to be in your locker?"

"Nothing beyond the obvious."

"Yes, you really should have locked it." She shook her head. "You realise that to have the watch fingerprinted, the police will have to be involved. I don't know what the implications will be for your adoption by Mrs. Vandom."

"It could affect that!?"

"I'm sorry dear, but it could. At the very least, if they feel that she's not keeping you sufficiently supervised then at the very least you may have to live elsewhere until the adoption is confirmed. At worst..."

"And if we don't go to the police?" I asked nervously.

"Then unless there is other evidence, I'm going to have to take this at face value. And of course the rest of the school will likely do the same, which won't make your time here easy."

I said a bad word.

"_Language_, Hope."

"I don't know what language it is," I said distractedly. I didn't want people to think I was a _thief_, but did I want to risk being taken away from Mom and Will? Particularly today! Would this mess up going to Metamoor?

"...one that you are not to use in Sheffield Institute, unless you want to spend your afternoons in detention." Miss Knickerbocker pulled open a drawer and produced a thin file. When she opened it I saw a picture of Will clipped inside it, but she set that aside and reached for the phone, dialing a number she read inside.

"Mrs. Vandom? This is Principal Knickerbocker... Yes, I thought you'd have heard from Will by now... Yes, I think that that's best. I'm very sorry, nothing like this has happened here before. ... She's been nothing but co-operative. Would you like to speak to her?"

The reply was apparently a yes, because she offered me the handset. I fumbled slightly and then put it to my ear. "Mom?" I asked and then had to repeat myself as I was almost inaudible.

"Oh honey, you never seem to catch a break do you?"

I tried to reply, sniffled - _sniffled!_ - and had to go for my hankie. "S-she says they may take me a-away from you," I managed.

"What!? Honey, I won't let that happen. Just hang in there. I'm on my way."

I mumbled something that might have sounded like okay and gave the phone back to Miss Knickerbocker who unsuspectingly put it to her ear. "Hello?"

From the way she yanked it away from her ear I'm guessing that Mom had something choice and loud to say to her.

"Well I am sorry but I felt she would be able to handle the facts," she said defensively into the phone. "...I'm afraid I believe that it is a possibility. We can talk about it when you get here."

Once she'd put the phone down she looked me over and then slid a box of tissues across the desk. "Give your handkerchief a chance to dry out and clean your face with these."

My face?

I touched it and realised that I was crying.

"You just sit in the outer office until your mother gets here," Miss Knickerbocker told me.

I did so obediently, taking a handful of tissues to wipe at my face. While I was at there I tried to think about this logically. Should I call the police in or not? It was a gamble. There were two basic questions, I thought. Either there was evidence that would show someone else or there wasn't. And either I asked that the police be called or I didn't.

If I _didn't_ call in the police it wouldn't matter whether there were incriminating fingerprints. I was pretty sure that my friends would stick up for me and there wasn't really any proof that I'd done anything wrong, but just about everyone else would presume that I was the thief - and I'd be punished as if I was. Neither of those things sounded particularly pleasant.

So let's say I _did_ call the police. If they found fingerprints then everything would be fine. Well except for whoever _had_ put the watch in my locker but they'd have the consequences coming to them. And if they didn't...

If there wasn't any fingerprints...

...I might lose my family.

If only there was some way I could find out if they were there or not. If I had Will's power or Hay Lin's I could find out, although I suppose I'd look pretty stupid having a conversation with it. Maybe Will could get close to it and bring it to life for me? Although I didn't see how that could be arranged. *Taranee?* I thought, hoping for a response but I got nothing.

Well, she did have a lot on her mind. If it wasn't this important I'd feel bad about hoping she could help. She'd got enough on her plate with her family to worry about and the whole business with Elyon, who wasn't her favorite person in either world.

Except it _was_ that important.

At least Mom and Will were on my side. Mom hadn't even asked 'had I done it', she'd just leapt instantly to my defense. Of course, both of them knew I'd have no more use for a second watch than I would for... for something I already had one of. And how had whoever it was stolen David's watch? Hadn't he been wearing it? If not, where had it been?

That might be an angle, I realised. I couldn't have taken it from him during a class because we didn't have any classes together - or at least we hadn't so far. And I hadn't left any of my classes, so if his watch had gone missing during a class then I clearly couldn't have been responsible. Okay, if it had been taken from wherever it was during lunch or between classes I wouldn't had a... an... ally? No, that wasn't the word. It sort of started like that. Well, it wouldn't rule me out as a thief if it had been taken then.

So maybe I didn't have to worry about the fingerprints: I'd have something else to prove I was innocent.

Wanting to strike while the iron was hot, I stood and knocked on the door to the inner office.

"Yes?" asked Miss Knickerbocker, looking up at me.

"I was just wondering, could you tell me when and where the watch was stolen?"

"Why do you want to do that?"

I folded my arms. "The best way for me to clear my name is to find out who really did steal it."

"You're not a detective, Hope."

"No, I'm the accused. Or am I not allowed to defend myself!?"

The Principal stared at me until I shrunk back. "Very well. David left it in his bag at the start of gym in first period. It wasn't there when he returned to get changed back out of his gym kit - since it's a double-length class, that was the end of second period."

"So it was in the boys changing room?"

She nodded.

"Huh." Well, I suppose that that meant I could _in theory_ have snuck into the changing room in the brief time between first and second period. "Bother."

"Bother?"

"If it'd definitely gone missing during a class, I'd have an al.. ali..."

"Alibi?"

"Wasn't he one of the Forty Thieves?"

Miss Knickerbocker's eyebrows rose almost to her forehead. "No, you're thinking of Ali Baba. And I do agree, it would be much more convenient if I could rule most of the students as having alibis for the time the watch was stolen. Now unless there's anything else..."

I guess she'd thought of that already. Well, it's not like she'd mentioned it to me!

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"I should have given you a padlock," Mom chided herself when she entered the office and then gave me a hug.

I leant against her, thankful for the warm strength. "Sorry about this."

"It's not your fault. Have you any idea what might have happened?"

"Someone put the watch in my locker. Who or why..." I shrugged. "Was it deliberate? Why would anyone do that?"

"Presumably someone who wanted to hurt you. Although they may have simply have thought that they could recover the watch later from an unlocked locker and not realised it was in use." She sighed. "Now what's this about someone taking you away from me?"

"Miss Knickerbocker told me that if I ask that the police be involved, to check for fingerprints, that it might mean they'd stop you from adopting me."

"It would be a problem," she admitted. "But I wouldn't let that stop me, any more than Theresa and Lionel would have when it came to Taranee. Do you think it would help clear your name?"

"Well it won't have my fingerprints since I never touched it. Of course, if no one else has either then that doesn't prove anything." I sighed. "I wish Will could help."

"Why?" Mom paused and looked around. "You mean she could ask it?"

"If it's electronic, yes," I confirmed in a quieter voice. "I doubt anyone's going to let her have that conversation though. Particularly if we're asking if it's evidence."

"...is there anything else she can interrogate? I don't believe I'm saying that seriously."

I thought and then snapped my fingers. "The locker. Hay Lin might be able to find out if the person who opened it was wearing gloves."

Mom nodded, accepting the statement. "Then we'd better ask her to try."

"How am I going to do that? I don't think the Principal's going to let me go get her."

She smiled and walked to the door of the office, swinging it open.

"Hi Hope!" Irma said brightly, removing her ear from where the keyhole had been. "How are you?"

"How do you think?" I realised the other girls were there too. So was Martin, although he and Taranee were looking nervous, probably because they weren't in class the way that they should be. Of course with him here I couldn't ask Hay Lin to go check the locker for me.

"We wanted to see how you were," Will explained. "If there was any way we could help."

"Are you going to be okay?" asked Martin nervously. "I mean, David has his watch back and Miss Knickerbocker said she wouldn't go to the police, right?"

"That still leaves me, taking the blame. And if I can't find proof that I'm innocent..."

"I won't lose you," Mom promised, taking my hand. "It's going to be okay, Hope."

"Let's get my Dad involved," Irma suggested. "He'll find out who it was and then no one'll take you away from Will."

"T-take you away?" Martin stammered. "That could happen?"

"I won't let that happen," Mom said again.

I felt my eyes beginning to tear up again. "But what if you _can't _stop it?"

"We have to find out who really did it then," Will said in a determined voice.

"It was Uriah."

Everyone's head turned towards the source of the nervous voice.

"I saw him," Martin added, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Well, great! You couldn't have just _said_ so!?" I exclaimed. "Come on, let's go tell Miss Knickerbocker."

"But if I do that, Uriah will kill me! Those guys don't mess around!"

I rolled my eyes. Okay, maybe it wasn't particularly fair of me but he sounded really pathetic. "Fine, whatever. Just tell me if he was wearing gloves."

"No."

"Did he wipe the watch before putting it in my daughter's locker?"

He gave my Mom a wary look. "No."

"I can't _make_ you talk to Principal Knickerbocker, young man," she told him in a disappointed voice. "And I suppose you won't need to now. Of course, since we'll have to involve the police in order to prove this Hope's innocence, that means that if he's identified then he's going to have a criminal record."

"He pretty much deserves it," Irma pointed out. "And the police probably have his fingerprints from that time he broke into the museum."

"He's no older then we are, Irma," Hay Lin pointed out. "If you made a mistake now would you want it following you around for the rest of your life?"

I ran my fingers through my hair. I was definitely growing it out now that I wasn't going to be pretending to be Will. "I don't understand why he'd do this. Granted he's a jerk, but... what did I ever do to him? It's not like I care if he hates me, but it's kind of confusing."

"What's going on here?" We turned to see that Principal Knickerbocker had opened the door to her office. "Why aren't you children in class?"

"We, uh..." Taranee started

Cornelia shook her head. "We were worried about Hope."

It may have been my imagination but I thought that I saw the teacher's face soften. "That's understandable, but there isn't anything that you can do. Go back to your classes... I'll give you notes for your teachers. Mrs. Vandom and I will take things from here."

Martin swallowed. "Miss Knickerbocker...?"

She folded her arms. "Yes?"

"I saw Uriah."

"Pardon?" Her eyebrows narrowed.

"This morning, I mean. When I was sent to your office for putting my hand up in class..."

"In first period, you mean?" Miss Knickerbocker said thoughtfully. She exhaled heavily. "And where did you see Uriah, Martin?"

He shuffled his feet. "He'd opened Hope's locker, Miss Knickerbocker."

"I hope that you understand the seriousness of what you're saying, young man. Are you absolutely sure that he wasn't at his own locker? It's on the same row."

"Yes, ma'am." The boy didn't seem any less nervous for getting this off his chest. "They're at different ends. I'm sure."

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"It was only a joke, ma'am!" Uriah protested. "It was... it was just for a laugh!"

If it wasn't for Will and Mom each having a firm hold on my shoulders I'd have seen how hard I could kick him between the legs. Just for a laugh. "And how exactly was this supposed to be funny?"

"I don't find this any more amusing than Hope does," Miss Knickerbocker agreed. "Bad enough to steal from a classmate, but to do so for the express purpose of framing a younger student for the crime? If you keep this up then you won't have to worry about being held back a year, Uriah, because one more incident of this magnitude you will be expelled."

He made a glurk noise.

_I_ felt cold and empty inside. That meant that the Principal wasn't going to come down on him. He could have ruined my entire life! "And that's if you're _lucky_," I told him.

"I can take care of this, Hope."

Mom cleared her throat. "Actually, Principal Knickerbocker, I think we might want to let Hope get this off her chest. Clear the air a little."

The older woman eyed her for a moment. "Very well then. You have the floor, Hope."

I took a step towards the boy. "If Martin hadn't come forward, I would've gone to the police to prove my innocence. We know that you left evidence so it wouldn't have been difficult for them to find out that you were the real thief. And once the police are involved, that gives you a permanent criminal record. Maybe a fine, maybe even time in prison. And while Miss Knickerbocker might be inclined to be lenient because to her you're just a dumb kid, I don't see any reason to. You're someone who went out of their way to hurt me just because you thought that you could."

I glared at him. "I can still go to the police, Uriah. Press charges. So why shouldn't I make sure that you're never a threat to me again?"

All the colour ran out of his face. "You can't! My folks are lawyers!"

"Really? Wouldn't that mean that they have to keep their noses clean or their jobs are in danger? It probably wouldn't do them any good if your little joke here got publicised. Sheffield Insitute's a pretty big school, I'd think this would be newsworthy."

"You wouldn't..." It was disturbing how fast he fell apart.

"I'm not hearing any reason not to. You attacked me. You put my adoption at risk. And after all, to you anything that happens - your parents losing their jobs, you never being trusted to have a job... No money, no comfortable life... It's just a joke, isn't it? Ha. Ha. Ha. Why aren't you laughing, Uriah? Don't you think it's funny?"

"That's far enough," protested Miss Knickerbocker. "You can't threaten him in front of me."

I didn't look aside. "So what'll you do to change my mind?"

"I don't know!" His eyes flicked from me to Miss Knickerbocker. "Help me!"

"Hope, I'm going to suspend Uriah for five days..."

"So his prize for this is to hide away from the rest of the school until they've had a few days to forget what he did?" I asked her. "Will he get slapped lightly on the wrist too?"

Mom cleared her throat. "They say that confession is good for the soul. Perhaps that might be satisfactory."

That sounded more promising. "Maybe."

"I've already admitted to it!" Uriah yelped.

"Confession to the entire school," suggested Mom calmly. "From what I've heard he made a public scene to draw attention to Hope, so he can do the same now to exonerate her. Let the other children judge him for what he's done."

I tilted my head to one side. "A recording," I decided. "I don't trust him to say the right things if he's facing them."

"I didn't..." He broke off as we stared at him sceptically. "_Alright_!"

"Wait outside, Uriah," Miss Knickerbocker ordered.

Once he was gone she turned to me. "I'm not happy with how you behaved just now, but -"

"Excuse me." I darted for her wastebin and started heaving up my lunch between racking sobs.

Mom knelt next to me and held my hair back. "I'm not really happy that she had to behave like that to have any effect, Miss Knickerbocker. I think it'd be best if Hope and Will took a couple of days off school. They're already under a lot of stress and if this is what they can expect here..."

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"You're not having much luck here at Sheffield," Mom noted. We were sitting on a bench outside the school, waiting for the others to finish.

"I gather it isn't always this exciting."

She put her arm around me. "About what you did in the office..."

"I went too far?"

"Maybe not. But still, I know that you and Will are strong, independent young women, but you are also still my little girls. It's okay to have me take care of things if you need me to." Mom sighed. "Just like I suppose I need to trust you to be able to take care of things without me sometimes. Teenagers are hard to be Mom's for."

"Maybe there's a guidebook?"

"I'm sure there are lots, but I don't know that there's any that deal with this exact situation." She paused. "The police called, that Interpol woman Medina. We'll have to go back to the hospital at the weekend, apparently your samples were damaged somehow and they couldn't get a good comparison."

"Damaged? Or just not properly human?" I asked nervously.

"They presume damaged. Parts are alright. I imagine whatever it was that your friend Elyon was doing hasn't run its course yet." Mom hugged me a little tighter. "Maybe we can ask her when we're in Metamoor."

A bell rang inside the school. I was fairly sure that that meant that school was out. I hadn't exactly been keeping track but the way teenagers began to stream out of the exits a moment later strongly suggested I was right.

"So did you manage to work out where we need to go today?"

"Apparently there's a portal at a carnival," I told her. I'd almost forgotten about that. "I don't know exactly where that is, but Hay Lin said it was just outside Heatherfield."

"I think I've seen something on a map." Mom's brow furrowed for a moment. "Well, hopefully she can give me directions."

It seemed likely and when I saw Irma, Taranee and Hay Lin emerge as a cluster from one of the doors I gave them a wave.

"Hail to the king!" Irma declared, grabbing my hand and raising it high as soon as they got to me. "Proven innocent _and_ you got Uriah to grovel to you across the school tannoy."

"Are you sure that was the best idea?" Taranee asked nervously.

"I'm not sure, no." If I'd ever had any ambitions to someday be friends with him, I'd have burned that bridge dramatically. of course, given what he'd done earlier I would be ecstatic if I never met him again. Unlikely, unless one of us left Sheffield, but it was a nice thought. "Still, I figure it's better than him getting off with just a slap on the wrist."

"I heard from Martin that he would have been suspended," Irma added. "Still, even five days without Uriah at school wouldn't have been as good as him trying to explain himself to the whole school."

"Suspended. Meaning more or less a holiday. I don't think that counts as a punishment."

"That's not how it works," I was corrected by Taranee in a soft voice. "He'd have to do schoolwork, like homework but more of it."

"I suppose that's something."

"That's enough about Uriah," Cornelia said, walking up with Will next to her. The blonde gave Uriah's usual hangers' on - Kurt and a burly blond boy I didn't know the name of - a withering look. "He's not worth it." The ginger boy hadn't hesitated to name the two as having acted as his lookouts, which would have got them suspended as well if the original punishment had gone through.

Mom unlocked the car for us to pile in but she blocked Will with one hand from getting into the front. "Do you know where we're going, Honey?"

Will's shoulders slumped and she let Hay Lin take the front seat. Then she realised that between Cornelia, Taranee and I the backseat was full too - although that wasn't stopping Irma from trying to make us budge over. "Come on Irma, we'll get in the back."

Silly me, I thought that the pair of them climbing into the trunk would be the end of it but then I felt my head caught in someone's arm and my head being rubbed, hard enough to tug at my hair.

"Noogie!" Irma said triumphantly while Cornelia, apparently being treated the same way as me, screeched indignantly.

I tried to ask what this was about but it was hard to talk with Will's sleeve across my mouth.

"Behave girls," Mom warned. "Will and Irma, you sit down while I'm driving. The rest of you put your seatbelts on."

WIll released me and a moment later Irma joined her sitting on the coats piled up in the back.

"What was that in aid of?" I asked. "More 'big sister' stuff?"

"Will has much to learn," Irma declared. "She's learning from the best!"

"Somehow I can't see Cornelia encouraging this."

"Hey, I'm totally the better big sister! I don't call Chris a little monkey. Well, hardly ever."

Cornelia rolled her eyes. "Mostly because you're not even that complimentary."

"Exactly!"

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"Watch your step," Irma advised once we walked into the old carnival. Peter had brought his car too, meaning there was plenty of room for all of us on the road out from Heatherfield. "This place is falling apart."

"Creepy too," I added, looking around.

"It must have been beautiful once." Cornelia looked around. "My dad told me that his family used to come here every Sunday back when he was our age."

Peter looked around, apparently unbothered by being designated as responsible for the one bag of luggage that Hay Lin had prepared. "Kind of a shame it's all run down like this. So how are we going to find the portal?"

"Don't worry, Will's got it."

"Oh?"

"We'll just walk around until Will gets dizzy, then we'll know we're near it."

Mom raised an eyebrow. "Dizzy?"

"It's not a huge deal, Mom."

"She totally gets woozy around portals," Hay Lin explained. "It's like ESP or something. Are you feeling anything yet?"

"Not yet, no."

"So what do these portals look like?" asked Peter.

"A silver swirly thing," Irma explained succinctly.

"Sort of like the wormhole from DS9?"

"Yeah, exactly!" Hay Lin agreed. "You watch that?"

"Sisko's cool."

I have no idea what they were talking about but I felt a sudden need to find out. Preferably without letting Peter know about my ignorance.

"Okay, I feel something," Will advised us a few minutes later. "The portal must be in there." She pointed at one of the rides. The sign above a heart-decorated canal leading into the side of a small hill proclaimed it to be the 'Tunnel of Love'. In an orderly line swan-boats were waiting in the water, having presumably exited it just before the ride was shut down. I could barely see another still inside the mouth of the tunnel.

"Are you really sure? I'd like to have a little more assurance before crawling into that hole."

"Move it or lose it, Irma!" Cornelia declared as Will stepped over the chain fence along the edge of the canal and stepped into the water. To my surprise the water was shallow, only up to her calves. "Will has never been wrong before," the blonde added as she followed.

"Well there's a first time for everything! Can't I take one of the cars? That swamp doesn't look very inviting to me."

"I think they move in the wrong direction," Peter pointed out, stepping down into the water and giving me a hand down (unnecessary but I wasn't complaining). Mom gave her shoes a rueful look before she took his hand as well.

Cornelia paused at the entrance to the tunnel, looking back at Irma who finally took the plunge. "You're the one who controls water! If you don't want to get your feet wet, why don't you use your powers?"

"You couldn't have mentioned that before I stepped in this crud?"

Apparently impatient with the argument, Will used the Heart of Kandrakar. My skin prickled as magic swept out across my friends, replacing their warm coats and schoolgirl bodies with the clinging costumes and mature curves of the Guardians of the Veil.

Peter whistled at the sight.

"You've seen us before," Taranee said, tugging lightly on the hem of her top.

"It's going to take a while to get used to it."

"Now my boots are full of muck," Irma whined.

Taranee conjured a ball of fire to light our way into the tunnel. It wasn't stonework I realised, the walls were metal. In fact, the entire hill was a building disguised as a part of the landscape. It was very clever but I couldn't help but feel slightly cheated.

There weren't any branches and we quickly found the portal: a silvery swirl of light hanging slightly off-centre in the tunnel.

"You're right," Peter agreed. "It does look like a wormhole. How do we... is there something special we need to do?"

"Just walk through," I told him and stepped forwards.

Cornelia caught my shoulder. "Let a couple of us go through first. Just in case..." She and Will went through the portal and I jumped through after them.

The other side of the portal opened into an alleyway in what was evidently Meridian, one end open to a larger street, and a fairly busy one. Fortunately we weren't getting any attention. Mom bumped into me from behind and we stepped aside to let Taranee and Peter come through. Behind them were Hay Lin and Irma.

Mom was still looking around, one hand on the stone wall of the building on one side. "So this is Metamoor? It certainly looks... medieval."

"We're in Meridian," I told her. "The city's larger than Heatherfield I think and it's built all around Phobos' castle."

"And that's where we're going," Will declared. "We don't know how much time we have so we can't afford to go looking for the rebels. Instead we'll go directly to Elyon." She looked over at the three of us who weren't Guardians. "Now that you've seen Metamoor, I don't suppose I can convince you to go back to Earth now?"

Peter shook his head. "No way!"

"If you feel it's safe enough for yourselves then I see no reason it wouldn't be safe enough for Hope and I."

Will flicked a look at Hay Lin and then sighed, her shoulders slumping slightly. "Okay. But we can't mess around here: if one of us gives you and order, please do as we tell you. We don't want any of you to get hurt."

We nodded our acceptance of these terms.

"And if I order you to go back through the portal?" she asked impishly.

"What?" protested Peter.

Mom stared at Will and then looked at me. "Then you had better be right behind us, Will." She took my arm and stepped back towards the portal.

"No, it's okay." Will's face was serious. "I'm just checking. Now come on. I know a shortcut. but we'll need some disguises."

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The bag Peter was carrying turned out to contain several long, heavy cloaks that Hay Lin had prepared. "We wore these when we came here to rescue Taranee," she explained. "No one gave us a second look until Irma traded a watch for a map."

"I guess watches really _are_ valuable."

Irma giggled. "That one wasn't, I'd got it in a box of cereal!"

"I suppose that it must have made whoever you traded with suspicious?"

"Only when he found out it didn't really tell time!"

Hay Lin was right though, the cloaks were similar enough to the clothes of others on the street that no one seemed to think we were out of place. Most of the crowds on the streets - and there _were_ crowds, thicker than I remembered - seemed more intent upon their own business than on one more group of travellers muffled beneath hooded cloaks. There were several such groups, I must stress.

"They must be here for the coronation," Cornelia deduced. "There can't be long left before it happens if people are gathering like this."

"Then it's a good job we're almost where we need to be."

Will was right. The tall spires of Phobos castle were rearing up above us and as we moved past one last block houses, these relatively tall and grand, we saw the trees that surrounded the castle's gardens. Nestled into the shadows were the black roses Will had spoke of. Despite all I had been told about them, I couldn't help but admire their beauty.

"It's like a fairy tale castle," Mom said. "I presume you want us to go through the woods to get to it?"

"The palace garden is on the other side," explained Will. "The roses are the ones I told you about... but they're no match for Cornelia."

The blonde raised her hands towards the flowers. "I sure hope that you're right. I like flowers but I don't want to become one!"

"And once we're inside, what do we do?"

"Just what we always do, Irma," Will answered as we clustered in front of the trees, hoping that this behaviour wouldn't draw the attention we had avoided earlier. "Make it up as we go along."

"Remind me to give you a copy of Sun-Tzu for your birthday, sis," Peter muttered. "Sounds like your friends need the help."

"I'll lend Will my copy."

Peter gave Mom a surprised look and she shrugged. "You'd be surprised how many business courses recommend it."

With a grunt of exertion from Cornelia, a green vortex pushed its way through the foliage. "Come on, hurry up!" she barked. "The magic in these flowers is getting stronger. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to keep this passage open!"

We all rushed forwards, following Will through into the gardens. Cornelia brought up the rear of course, diving through the vortex a moment before it vanished and the flowers swayed back into position, once more blocking the route.

"This is certainly a surprise," a voice declared and I turned sharply from helping Cornelia back to her feet to see a green-skinned man with red facial markings like Cedric's. He was dressed plainly in a blue vest over a white shirt, with study looking black pants and heavy boots.

Taranee, Irma and Hay Lin moved to protect the rest of us while Will... beamed happily? "Hey! I was really hoping we'd see you, Daltar!"

"It's nice to see you again, young lady!" the man greeted her. I recalled Will telling me of the gardener she'd befriended during her previous encounter with Phobos' gardens. "And these must be..."

"...you've got it! The other four Guardians," she waved in their direction and then took my arm and Mom's, standing between us, "and my family." Then she blushed slightly and nodded in Peter's direction. "And Taranee's brother."

"Hi." Peter offered his hand and Daltar accepted it warily, allowing it to be shaken.

"We've come back to protect Elyon."

"She may be in grave danger," added Cornelia.

Daltar nodded grimly. "That danger is named _Phobos_! The prince is plotting something, he's been closed up in his underground hideaway, the Abyss of Shadows, for some time and that's not a good sign!"

"From the name I'd guess it's not a very cheery place either."

"Thanks, Irma." Will stepped forwards and took hold of Daltar's shoulders. "We have to talk to Elyon right away!"

"That won't be easy," he warned. "The princess is in her chambers and her brother's whisperers are roaming all around the castle. Still... there might be a way..."

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"Are you sure about this guy?" asked Peter after Daltar had been away a while. "What if he's just going to tell this Prince Phobos that we're right where he can get his hands on you."

"Phobos turned his wife and his daughter into the first of these black roses," Will reminded him. "Elyon's his only hope of getting them back."

"Unless he thinks Phobos would reverse the spell in exchange for handing you over."

Now that was a worrying thought.

My sister shook her head. "No. He could have done that last time. I was helpless after I was scratched by the black roses, but instead he hid me from Phobos soldiers. He's a good person."

"I hope you're right," Irma muttered. She looked around. "What a creepy place, I wonder how Elyon stands it."

"It's not so bad," disagreed Hay Lin. "Sure it _feels_ ominous because we know Phobos is here, but it's a really pretty building when you look at it. Elyon must feel just like a princess, living here."

"Isn't the point that she _is_ a princess?"

"It looks as if it's been here a while," Mom observed. "I wonder who built it and who they expected to have to defend themselves from."

"What?"

"Think about it, Will. This isn't a palace, it's a castle. No one builds a castle unless they think they might need a home that is easily defended. From what you've said it couldn't have been Phobos who built this place. At one time or another, there was a menace that these walls were to be protection from."

"Well that's ancient history, isn't it?" asked Cornelia.

"I don't know. Are there any other kingdoms in Metamoor?"

There were shrugs. "There aren't any on the map," Irma told us. "I guess not."

"I wonder if there ever were."

"It would probably tell me in the castle library if I could read Metamoorian," a familiar voice observed from between two trees and we turned to see Elyon, wearing the same long dress and over-robe that I had seen her in before. "You've come back for me?" Her eyes flicked to Peter and Mom in confusion.

"We have," Cornelia agreed. "There have been some changes..."

"So I see."

"Our families found out," explained Will. "But that's not important right now. I hear that your coronation is soon. Are you sure that Phobos is really going to give you the crown? There may be things you don't know about him."

Elyon lowered her head sadly. "There are a _lot_ of things I don't know about him. Since I arrived, all Phobos has done is avoid me. He's more like a stranger than a brother!"

I couldn't help but look to Will for a moment. I was sure that Taranee and Peter were exchanging looks as well.

"I want to trust him," the little princess continued. "But I have a million questions about Meridian and his rule of the city and he won't answer any of them. I don't see him often enough to even ask."

"Then maybe we should compare notes," Will suggested. "How long do we have?"

"I have the final fitting for my dress tomorrow, just before the coronation procession. Until then, I'm free."

"I hope you're right."

"What?"

"About being free." Will looked around the little clearing. "Daltar," she asked. "Could you tell Elyon about your family..."

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"Long live Elyon!" shouted the crowd as the coronation parade made its way through Meridian from the castle to the plaza where the Queens of Meridian were traditionally crowned. "Long live the Light of Meridian."

Files of soldiers cleared the way for the royal pair and many more followed them. Compared to the massive soldiers, even the tall Phobos and Cedric (who walked behind, carrying the Crown of Light on a gold-tasselled crimson pillow) seemed dwarfed. I couldn't see past most of the densely packed crowd, much less the massive soldiers.

There were other, less flattering voices in the crowd, although none that I heard directed at the soon-to-be-queen.

"Look at that smug smile on his face," one squat metamoorian declared in a dangerously loud voice, gesturing at Phobos. "And to think he's never lowered himself to walk among us until today..."

"Aye," agreed the man's companion. "The princess should punish him for all the wrong he's done."

I half-expected Phobos to order some of the guards to apprehend the two but either he hadn't heard or he chose to ignore then, instead smiling serenely as he walked past them.

It wasn't all that long a walk from the gates of the castle to the plaza and the small dais near the centre of it that existed for these purposes. A great crimson canopy had been erected, towering above the round platform and Phobos moved to the fore, raising his arms. Like Cedric he wore long, flowing robes that marked him as a sorcerer. "People of Meridian!" the prince called out, his voice effortlessly rising above the muttering from some parts of the crowd. "Today is a joyful day for our city and for the entire Kingdom!"

He gestured towards the small form beside him. "Metamoor has been deprived for too long of its legitimate queen, ruled instead by a brother whose grief for the loss of his beloved sister has caused much fear and discontent. It is with great pride and joy that I can bring this to an end!"

Cedric stepped forwards and Phobos lifted the Crown of Light from the cushion. The silver circlet was practically glowing and the great amethyst that would soon lie upon Elyon's brow seemed to pulse like a heartbeat.

"Elyon, I offer you the Crown of Light! I bestow upon you this symbol of justice and wisdom. Of honour and loyalty. May your eternal power illuminate the spirit and the path of your loyal subjects."

My heart jumped into my throat. This was wrong. I could practically feel it, there was something about to happen. Something terrible. My eyes swept across the crowd and I saw a few familiar faces, their expressions showing the same trepidation I felt.

Then I saw Elyon's eyes close briefly in resolution before opening to meet mine. She nodded slightly but I could see hints of doubt and fear... and shame.

"No longer called Princess of Meridian..."

Her brother lowered the crown and released his hold upon it.

He said more, but I couldn't make out the words. It was impossible to take more than the sense of them as a scream tore its way out of my throat, agony searing through my body as parts of me I hadn't even realised existed were ripped open. I could hear his triumphant laughter though, and the horrified cries of the crowd.

I was writhing at Phobos feet.

I must have fallen.

What had he done? Why was I in such pain?

Could no one help me!?

An uncaring hand raised my head slightly and through tearing eyes I saw Phobos' triumphant face leering down at me. "...while I, oh... I know how to use it!" I realised he was slipping the Crown of Light free of my head.

I couldn't think of a pithy one-liner to say... I probably wouldn't have spoken clearly anyway... But I could manage to spit into his face.

There was red in my spittle. That probably wasn't a good sign. This had been a terrible idea!

He released me and my head bounced off the wooden floor of the dais. Why were there two Phobos all of a sudden? Did he have an astral drop, the stinker!?

They both placed the Crown of Light upon their heads. I'm pretty sure there had only been one Crown a moment ago. Then two Cedrics moved into view. Oh great. Either everyone was multiplying or I was seeing double.

"How do you feel?" the dirty snake asked. And he certainly wasn't being solicitous of me!

"I'm not sure," admitted Phobos, eyes crossing slightly as he tried to look up at the crown. "There is only one way to find out whether the spell has worked. I will do away with these worthless creatures with a wave of my hand!"

He raised a hand towards where I guessed the crowd were. "The detestable people of Meridian! I have always longed to do this!" Phobos laughed.

The self-satisfied look on his face fell off it a moment later. "What!? Why...!?"

"Looks like someone's suffering some performance issues!" a familiar and - for once - welcome voice suggested and two Irmas (I was definitely seeing double: in no sane universe would there be two of _her_) bounded up onto the platform, pushing the two pairs of men back from where I lay.

Four concerned faces blocked my view of the confrontation: Mom's face, and Elyon's!

"It's going to be okay, sweetheart!" promised both of Mom's faces

Elyon pressed her hands against me, a numbness beginning spread through my body. "I never should have agreed to this!" she wailed. I blinked and my vision cleared, no longer doubling the faces.

"The princess!" Cedric exclaimed. "It's her, but then who..."

The tingle of the illusion I'd been wearing for the last day – barely noticeable now - vanished and Phobos screamed in frustration. "I've been _tricked_!"

Strong arms lifted me, the pain that was beginning to recede suddenly springing back as Elyon's hands were removed from me.

"Get them to safety, Vathek!" order Caleb and I saw him standing above Elyon and I, sword in hand. The rebel leader brandished the weapon boldly. "People of Meridian, this is our chance! Rise up and join us! The traitor prince's day of reckoning has arrived!"

Cheers and shouts of anger exploded around us as I was hauled back into the shelter of the crowd. But it all seemed to be so far away...

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"This... this wasn't supposed to happen!"

Elyon's voice seemed to be coming from the distance. Somewhere above me. There was a light there...

But I was drifting downwards, warm water's embrace welcoming me like a bath that went on forever. Was this the way Will felt when she was swimming?

Will?

"Why?" I heard Elyon demanding.

Where was Will?

"This is my fault, all my fault!"

Silly girl. But why was she talking to me? And where was my sister? Why was I not with her?

"At this point I think we can put more blame on your brother."

Irma. Great. But if she was up there... I started to struggle against the water, thrashing and trying to reach the light above me. The light stung at my eyes, chilling the water around me...

I couldn't help but think to how Caleb had woken me when I was drowning on my first venture into Meridian. Naughty of me to think of that when Cornelia was in love with him...

My eyes stung as I opened them. Actually, everything stung.

"Irma's right, Elyon. You were tricked."

There was Will!

"But Hope's hurt..."

I coughed. "It was my idea," I reminded her.

"Hope! You're awake!"

It really _had_ been my idea. Phobos' plan obviously had to be more involved than simply killing Elyon. since he could have done that at any time before now. And the only way to prove he was up to something was to put him to the test: let him crown someone. But for Elyon's safety, it had to be someone other than her.

It had all seemed very logical to me at the time, but I hadn't considered how painful the consequences could be. Will and Elyon were more than able to create an illusion to disguise someone as the princess... but it would have been too obvious that that was all it was unless the person pretending to be her was of roughly the same size...

Mom and Peter were obviously far taller than Elyon and - once transformed - so were all the Guardians. Heck, Cornelia was too tall _before_ they transformed and Irma was too large in... other respects.

_'Don't experiment and have the Keeper try to take back her magic or anything like that.'_ Elyon had warned me weeks ago. It must be what Phobos had tried to do...

In fact he must have succeeded. I was a real girl at last!

A spasm of pain convulsed me a moment.

Right, now I just needed to survive that.

"Can't you help her?" Mom asked.

I realised that there was quite a crowd gathered. Mom, the Guardians, Vathek... dozens of Metamoorians filling a rough-hewn cellar.

"I don't know," Elyon admitted. She pressed her hands against me and I felt the pain recede. "The magic that created her was part of every cell in her body. I'm amazed she's alive now, much less talking."

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here," I complained. "And why are you all here? Isn't there a battle to fight?"

There was an awkward silence.

"Is it over?"

"No." Will shook her head. "It's not over. Phobos had another army though, he called them Annhilators. They're tearing Meridian apart to find us. And Caleb..." She broke off and looked towards Cornelia, who held a silvery flower - not so very different than the one Caleb had given her after their first meeting.

"Caleb?"

"Caleb was a whisperer," Taranee explained in a low voice. "One of Phobos creations."

"He was _working_ for Phobos!?" Impossible! I couldn't believe it!

Cornelia pressed the flower against her cheek. "No, Hope. He'd broken free. But when he confronted him, Phobos..." Her voice broke. "He turned him back into what whisperers are made from: a flower."

I slumped to the floor. "How much more will Phobos destroy?"

"Nothing, if we can stop him." Will's voice was full of determination. "Meridian... no, _all of Metamoor_ is counting us. Especially on you, Elyon."

"That's right, you are our queen," Vathek reminded her.

"A queen without a crown!"

"A queen with a great heart and great powers," offered a man pushing his way through the little crowd, a woman at his side.

They weren't familiar to me but Elyon's eyes went wide at the sight of them. "Father! Mother!" She took her hands off me for a moment and I flinched. With a guilty look she pressed them back against me.

I put my hands over hers and gave her a smile. Honestly, I'd have been mad if she _hadn't_ wanted to rush to them.

She didn't have to, of course. A moment later and her mother had her arms around Elyon.

"I suppose Alborn and Miriadel need no introduction," Vathek chuckled.

"Well I haven't met them," I pointed out, although it wasn't hard to work out who they were. "And I'm sure that Mom hasn't either."

"Ah, yes." He gave Mom an uneasy look.

"I've quite forgiven you for entering my daughters' room," she told him and then frowned. "Helping Cedric to try to capture Will and her friends on the other hand..."

Vathek paled slightly. "Um, well they rescued Elyon from Phobos when she was a baby. Alborn commanded their mother's Royal Guards so he and Miriadel were able to get Galgheita out of the castle."

"You seem to have raised a good girl," Mom congratulated them. "Other than joining her brother for a few months, but that's understandable if no one told her about him."

"We didn't think Elyon was old enough yet," Aldarn said defensively. He rested one hand on Elyon's head apologetically. "I guess we were wrong."

"It's okay." Elyon closed her eyes in what I decided was bliss at being reunited with her parents. At least she had stopped blaming herself for my condition.

I took a deep breath. That hurt much less than it had earlier. "I think Mom's still mad at Will and I for not telling her about all this."

"Of course I've forgiven you both." Mom squeezed my shoulders and I tried very hard not to let it show how much that hurt right now. I must of failed because she let go quickly. "I just haven't forgotten about it," she added with a quick smile. "Is Hope going to be okay?" she asked Elyon.

"I think so." The princess looked uncertain. "She needs to eat as much as possible. Her body's mostly intact and I think it will be able to heal where the magic was removed, but it's going to take time and energy."

"So lots of food and bedrest?" Mom rummaged in her pockets and produced some snackbars. "Here, small mouthfuls and chew properly." She broke off a piece and held it to my mouth for me. It felt distinctly odd to be fed like this, but I supposed I'd never been breastfed either so maybe this was just one of those things that was less remarkable if you'd experienced the terrible twos from one end or the other.

There were nuts and chocolate chips in the snackbar so it was at least flavoursome to chew. Mom was holding another chunk ready for me and I got the distinct impression that we might be in this situation for a while.

"We have to stop Phobos," Vathek declared. "Alborn, you and Miriadel know more of battle than any of us. You need only tell us what to do."

"I don't know..." Elyon's father hesitated. "I don't doubt your courage, but are any of you even soldiers?"

"If we don't let our voices be heard now," the blue-skinned giant said firmly. "Then we will _deserve_ to be condemned to eternal silence."

Alborn folded his arms. "We... cannot defeat Phobos," he said heavily. Then, very reluctantly, he looked down at Elyon and added: "But..."

"But I can, can't I?" Elyon's voice was full of confidence but her eyes were asking for reassurance.

"If you are going to fight him then you will need your full powers," Miriadel told her. "Which means you need the Crown of Light."

"Phobos has that," Taranee pointed out. "He was wearing it when he went back to the castle."

"Then we'll go take it from him!"

There was a roar of approval from the crowd but Miriadel shook her head. "Wait. A frontal assault would accomplish nothing, the Prince's Annihilators would tear you all apart. Instead, you should draw them away, scattering them through the city..."

"...and then a small group can enter the castle unopposed," agreed her husband.

"And guess who he has in mind for that," I heard Irma mumble. "Act like nothing is happening, Hay Lin! Pretend we're not here!"

"We'll take care of it."

There was a loud urk from Irma at Will's decision. Even the other Guardians seemed daunted by the idea.

"And I'll go with them!" Elyon removed her hands and I braced myself for a resurgence of pain. It came, but it was far less than it had been. "I know the inside of the castle well, so I can guide you."

"Are you sure about this?" Mom asked Miriadel.

The green-skinned woman looked regretful. "I cannot refuse her the right to fight for her crown." She glanced over at Will. "She is also your daughter?"

Mom nodded.

Miriadel placed her hand on my chest where Elyon's had been. "You are remarkable girls, all of you," she told me.

W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.

So there I was being carried by Vathek again. If it happens again I'm going to suspect someone of arranging this. He'd entrusted his other burden to me: Caleb. Cornelia could hardly carry a flower around with her on a secret mission to invade Phobos' castle, so she'd ask Vathek to watch over his friend.

I suspected I'd probably need to put him in some water at some point. Unlike Cornelia I'd have to actually work to keep a flower alive. Or would a flowerpot be needed?

It had been unanimously agreed by Will, Vathek, Alborn _and_ Mom that I was to be taken to a safe hiding place - back through the portal if possible. Taranee had then - with what I felt was an atypical degree of manipulativeness - extracted a promise from Peter that he would look after me. It's not like I was going to refuse having her rather handsome brother's attention, and this at least convinced him that he shouldn't volunteer for something more dangerous, like accompanying the Guardians into the castle or join one of the squads that Alborn had organised to draw the attention of the army away.

We made a strange group scurrying through the streets of Meridian - a dark-skinned young man, a grown woman, a girl and two Metamoorians...

"Actually the word is Galhot," Vathek told me. "And there _are_ Escanor here, like you, although they're not as common. Queen Leryn - Elyon's ancestor and the first Light of Meridian - and her family came here from another world. Perhaps yours."

"Ours?" asked Peter in surprise. "You mean there's been contact before?"

"I'm not sure. It was a long time ago. Wasn't it, Miriadel?"

"Many, many generations," she said with gritted teeth.

"I'm missing something, aren't I."

"It's nothing that I'm ashamed of."

"These days," said Vathek smugly.

Miriadel sniffed. "I'm of mixed heritage," she explained. "So is Alborn although in his case it's several generations ago. It's almost more common than being an unmixed Escanor these days. My father's people have never had the numbers of the Galhot."

"It may not be our business, Hope," observed Mom.

The other woman sighed. "It doesn't really matter. Just one of those things that seems very important when you're Hope's age and far more trivial once you grow up." She gave Peter a thoughtful look. "I'd imagine you know the sort of thing, Mr. Cook."

He smiled, slightly ruefully. "Oh. Well, _most_ people seem to grow out of that these days. And just call me Peter. Mr. Cook is my father."

"I still don't get it."

They both gave me a significant look and then light dawned in Peter's eyes. "Oh. I suppose you wouldn't. It's kind of cute, you being... innocent."

Mom _glared_ at him. "Peter _Lancelot_ Cook..."

He flinched. "Who told you that!?"

"Your mother said I might need to remind you to behave." She tore open another snackbar and handed it to me insistently. (This was my sixth and I was getting sick of them.) "Some people believe for various reasons that the colour of someone's skin means that they are better or worse than others."

I thought about that. Well it was a visible difference, although I hadn't - in my admittedly limited experience - seen any specific traits associated with skin colour... well, there was that one thing. "Sort of like Phobos' soldiers all having orange skin?"

"Yes. It doesn't mean that everyone that has orange skin necessarily supports him."

I nodded. "Well that makes..."

Vathek said something short and possibly obscene as - as if summoned by their mention - a squad of soldiers stepped into place to block the street ahead of us. "Frost."

It was indeed the Hunter.

"So you're the imposter," the blond-haired warrior declared, drawing his sword. "And with the turncoat as well. It's not quite as good as finding the Princess... but it's a start..."


	9. Chapter 9

If Frost had managed to replace his not-so-trustworthy steed, that'd have been it, but on foot he wasn't all that fast and the soldiers with him had been picked for size not speed. That was pretty much all that was keeping us ahead of them, that and the tight, twisty streets of Meridian's back alleys.

Well, I say we, but let's face it: _I_ wasn't doing any running. (I did make a mental resolution to look very hard into athletic clubs at Sheffield if I ever got the chance. If this sort of thing ever happened again, I needed to be much better prepared). Fortunately, either I wasn't heavy enough to noticeably slow him or Vathek was a contender for whatever the biggest footrace in Meridian was.

Unfortunately, so was Frost and from glimpses I got as we cornered he seemed to be gaining ground.

"Is there anywhere we can hide?" I asked quietly, before Mom stretched up and pushed another snackbar into my hands.

Vathek shook his head. "Frost would sniff us out. We need to get some help if we're going to get rid of him."

I thought about that. "And are we running towards help?"

"No we're running away from him."

This was not good, I realised. Mom was in great shape but that wasn't a very _athletic_ shape and neither Miriadel nor Alborn was exactly in fighting condition either. "Then we'd better find some help fast, because all we're doing is tiring everyone but me out."

"I'm open to alternatives!"

As we went past another alley, I saw a glimpse of water. That... gave me an idea. Not a great idea, a terribly risky idea, but an idea nonetheless. And most of my ideas _had_ lately. Sort of. "Are we anywhere near a bridge over the river?"

"What? Um, yes."

"Is it a fast river?"

"Most of the rivers in this part of Meridian are. You're not thinking... even if you've learned to swim since we last met you're in no condition..."

"Getting Frost's sword pressed against my throat isn't going to be any healthier. I hope the others can swim," I added.

"_I_ hope that this isn't the river I think it is." Vathek sounded grim but he hung a left at the next turn, with a shout for the others to follow us.

"What are we going to do?" panted Miriadel.

"The bridge," Alborn nodded. "Get across that and one or two of us can hold them back long enough for the rest to break contact."

"I like your plan better than Hope's," noted Vathek as he led us out of the alleyway and across the street that followed the river. There was a humpback bridge crossing the river. It looked sturdy enough, which was a good thing because the river that flowed beneath it was moving a lot faster than the relatively placid one that ran through Heatherfield. "This river doesn't go far enough for that."

At the foot of the bridge he turned and jerked his head for Elyon's parents cross first. "I'm the only one who can hold them off."

I was still processing that when he lowered me so that Peter could take me from his arms. Being considerably smaller than Vathek the young man struggled a moment and then threw me over his shoulder, which was considerably less comfortable than being carried bridal style. There was nothing wrong with the view I was getting though.

Just as I was handing Caleb off to Mom (so that he'd be less likely to be crushed accidentally in my new position) Frost led his men out of the alleys and managed to somehow – I didn't see it very clearly - put his jaw right in the path of Vathek's fist.

"Go!" the rebel shouted as Frost reeled backwards, his soldiers stepping past him and jabbing towards Vathek with the spiky ends of their halberds.

Peter ran up the bridge, Mom right behind us. We crested the hump just in time to hear cries from both directions. In the direction I was looking, at least it was from one of the soldiers - Vathek had seized the halberd by the head, yanked it from the orange-skinned man's hands and jabbed him in the face with the butt.

From the other direction, I heard Alborn's worried call of "Annihilators!"

An instant later the bridge blew up.

I'm not exaggerating. There was a sound like thunder, the stones came apart and we went flying into the air. If you've never been blown up, I can assure you that I have been and I didn't enjoy the experience.

Then I hit the water and the only thing that got my head back above it was that Peter had - thankfully - managed to somehow keep hold of me. I tried to look around for Mom - and the others but mostly Mom - but all I could tell from being neck-deep in the river was that the buildings were sweeping by awfully quickly. Hopefully faster than the soldiers could run.

"Mo-urgle," I managed to cry out as water went into my mouth.

"Don't struggle." Peter wrestled me around, holding me in front of him. "I have you." It would have been creepy coming from someone else, but for some reason - perhaps the fact I'd be busy drowning without his arms around me, let's go with that - it was reassuring. "Before I teach you to surf, you're going to need swimming lessons."

I shook wet hair back from my face, brushing it across his face and picked my moment. "Mom!"

A moment later I heard her voice. "Hope!"

Well at least her head was above water if she could shout. Could she swim? Probably. At a guess she'd have taken Will swimming when she was younger.

The rush of water seemed louder and I felt Peter's arm tighten around me. "Uh-oh." He started kicking his legs and paddling with his free arm, trying to get to the side of the river.

'Uh-oh'? What 'uh-oh'?

The water fell away from beneath us. An instant later we fell after it.

Ah. That sort of 'uh-oh'.

"Aaaaah!"

W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.

I woke up lying on cold stone.

Not flagstones, fortunately, just a sizeable boulder with a reasonable smooth surface. It was damp and I was soaked to the skin. Well, if I lived long enough to get a cold it was a decent exchange.

And to be honest, being a bit numb in places was probably a good thing.

"Ow..."

There was a snapping sound and I rolled over, first onto my back - the stone was by the side of a river, presumably the same one I'd been in when I closed my eyes - and then, with some effort, onto my other side.

Peter was standing with his back to me, shaking out his shirt. This, of course, meant that he wasn't _wearing_ his shirt. My cheeks flaming, I rolled over in the other direction. Okay, well he was obviously fine... er, in fine condition... in good health! So... "Mom?"

"I haven't seen her." He touched my shoulder lightly. "You swallowed a fair bit of the river. How do you feel?"

"Cold, achy... scared." I paused. "Could you forget that last bit?"

"Me too, on all three." I heard him working on the shirt. "I didn't think you'd appreciate me taking off your dress for it to dry -"

Actually I'd have been perfectly fine with that. There was a perfectly decent under-dress that would have kept me modest... oh wait, it was white and would be soaked. Better not to then. It'd be awfully close to breaking my promise to Mom.

"- so I put you on the rock where you'd get what sun there is until you woke up."

"And the others?"

He shook his head and then gestured up the river. "I lost track after we went over the waterfall and haven't seen them since I got to shore. Either they were swept past us before then or they got to shore before I did. It's safe to turn around now."

I rolled over again and then tried to sit up. It wasn't the most comfortable thing I'd ever done but at least I _could_ manage that. "So she could be upriver or downriver?"

"I just don't know. I'm sorry."

I rubbed my face and tried to think. God. She'd had Caleb too. Cornelia had trusted me with him. "Okay. Thanks for keeping me alive, by the way."

"Any time." He took my shoulder. "You probably shouldn't try to move though. You're still exhausted and probably hungry."

Oh he _would_ mention that. Now I couldn't ignore the way my stomach was trying to gnaw its way through my backbone. "We should go upstream. If Mom was swept past us, there's no way of knowing how far she went, so we might need help. If she got out before us... well, how far did we get carried?"

"A mile perhaps. If you look back that way, we can still see Meridian - barely. I think the horizon's closer than it is on Earth. Otherwise I'd be able to see the cliff and not just the rooftops."

Horizons weren't always the same distance away? It took me a moment to realise that that would mean that Metamoor was a smaller globe than Earth was. Well, that seemed plausible. "So only a mile... that's not too bad."

Peter gave me a questioning look. "We may not be able to get up the cliff to get into the city."

That hadn't even occurred to me and my cheeks coloured. He must think I was an idiot.

"Why don't you watch the river in case someone goes by," he suggested. "I think these trees -" The riverside was lined with tall and sturdy looking trees - "mark the edge of an orchard. If I can get you some fruit to eat, maybe that will help you... feel better."

"Not keel over dead, you mean."

"Well I'm sure you'd like to recover to the point that you can walk on your own two feet." He grinned. "It's not that you're heavy, but I'm just not as muscular as Vathek. Sit tight a moment."

He walked into the trees and I looked down at the water. Well this was a mess. Hopefully Will and the others were doing better than I was. I'd lost Mom, I'd lost Vathek and Caleb and both of Elyon's parents... It was a good job that I wasn't one of the Guardians or we'd all be doomed.

Moving slowly I pulled lightly on the dress, hoping to at least get it to stop clinging to me. The long skirts were supposed to be flowing, but right now they were just uncomfortable and I suspected that the colour had run a bit. If I was purple-skinned right now...

Yes, I was trying to distract myself from what might be happening elsewhere? Could you blame me? Being swept off a waterfall had knocked me silly. If the same had happened to Mom then she could have...

"Well what do we have here?"

I jerked my head up and looked across the river. Frost was obviously soaked through, his long blond hair still dripping as he glared at me from the other bank. Slung across his shoulder was Mom, a length of rope knotted around her legs. She wasn't moving which frightened me until I realised that there wouldn't be any point in tying her legs together unless he thought that she might try to run away. So she wasn't dead!

It took a moment for me to realise that the Hunter was still talking to me. "...pays the price."

"Sorry, what?"

He glared at me and then produced a short, curved dagger from his belt. "Do you need a demonstration?"

Well from this distance I doubt he was planning to stab me which meant... "No! I just... zoned out."

Frost's lips drew back from his teeth. "Do that again and your mother won't be quite so pretty."

"I won't!" I'd messed up so much, I couldn't risk her life.

"Now get your ass over here."

I looked at the river in despair. "I _can't_."

He placed the knife against Mom's leg.

"I can't swim! Heck, right now I can't _stand_!" I pulled myself slowly towards the edge of the boulder until my feet were dangling over the river. "If it'll save her I'll throw myself in, but all it'll get you is my drowned body floating downstream!"

"Useless girl," grumbled Frost, looking me over. "Tell me where the princess is and your mother lives. Otherwise..."

I'd seen this question coming. How could I not?

But what would I tell him? Could I betray Will for Mom? Would Will want that? Well she wouldn't want this to be happening at all... but it was Mom!

Frost eyed me arrogantly as I wrestled with the decision and shrugged his shoulders, catching Mom before she could fall to the floor. "I guess you need some reminding that I'm serious."

Mom's eyes blinked and opened sleepily. Even across the river it wasn't hard to tell the moment that she focused on the bright blade of the knife: "Aaaaaah!"

"Don't!" I shouted, but the word was drowned out by a crack of thunder from the direction of the city.

The Hunter looked in that direction and then back at me.

"That wasn't me!"

"Stupid girl," he snorted. "That came from the castle."

"That's where you'll find Elyon," I told him quickly. It wasn't as if Phobos was likely to be unaware of that explosion. I only hoped that it was a good sign. "There, I told you. Now let Mom go!"

Staring back at the city and - I guessed - now aware that there was no real chance of him getting back there and to the castle in time to make any difference, Frost snorted. "I don't recall promising you anything like that..." He looked past me. "And don't you try anything either, boy."

I glanced back and saw Peter step out from behind a tree. He grimaced at my look and shrugged helplessly.

"So what will you do now?" I asked Frost. "By the time any of us get back to the castle this will all be over."

"And your princess will be a footnote in the history of Meridian," he spat back.

"Wouldn't that rather depend who writes that history?" I pressed my hands against the stone, willing them not to tremble. "If you're not going to let Mom go but you're not going to hurt her... well, what does that leave?"

"I'm not ruling the latter out."

"Oh come on, man," Peter exclaimed. "What's that going to get you?"

"A moment's satisfaction."

I saw the Hunter ball a fist – in anger or frustration - and with an effort I held up my own hand. "Think about it. There's two possibilities here: either Phobos wins or Elyon does. In the first case, we're worth far more to you as prisoners to hand over than we are dead. In the latter case, do you really want her to take a _personal_ dislike to you. Either way it goes, you'd be making a mistake."

Frost's face twisted in anger but he didn't strike Mom. "Clever little girl."

"My name's Hope." And hopefully I was clever enough. If Phobos _did_ win then we were all in a great deal of trouble.

"You have a better idea?"

"Why don't we all just take a walk back to the city and see what's going on? You know the way back and you have Mom so you've got the upper hand here. If your boss won then you'll have us right on hand."

"And if the Princess wins - unlikely as that might be - I'm walking right into a trap. I don't think so."

I frowned. Okay, so what would make this palatable for him? "Are you sure that's how it has to go? I mean... I know you captured Taranee and you tried to catch us a couple of times, but have you done anything _other_ than that sort of thing? Because, yeah, you'd have to start over but if you deal honestly with us then it doesn't have to be from the inside of a cell."

"Oh right, so I should trust you?"

"You have a better deal on the table if Elyon wins?"

That got a snort from the big man. "That's true." He put his knife away. "Alright. There's a place I can cross the river upstream away. I presume your boyfriend can carry you that far. I'll take over from there."

"I can carry Hope as far as we need to go," declared Peter.

"This isn't gallantry, boy. A hostage who can't run away is considerably easier to deal with than one who can."

W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.

The crossing that Frost had in mind was about halfway to the cliff, at a point where the river narrowed. There had been a bridge here once, I thought, or at least someone had tried to build one, because there were two broad stone pillars rising from the water, even if no actual bridge connected them. On either shore, stone piers had been built out and Frost climbed the one opposite us.

"Leave the girl on the other pier," he called to Peter. "Then back right up. I don't want you getting any clever ideas."

Peter grudgingly moved to place me upon the pier. "Like what?"

"Like anything!" the warrior spat.

I gave the young man a nod to back off. We didn't have much choice to trust Frost but he evidently didn't have even that much incentive to put faith in us... And he was right. If I saw a way to get rid of him without endangering Mom, I'd take it in a shot.

Frost was carrying Mom over one shoulder, much as Peter carried me. Now he tightened his grip upon her and backed up a bit before running up the pier. He had, as I'd noticed before, a pretty good turn of speed. Even so, my heart leapt up into my chest as he vaulted off the pier towards the first pillar. I didn't care much what happened to him, but if he messed up then he might do Mom a serious injury.

I needn't have worried. Frost's heavy boot crashed down upon the pillar and he barely slowed to take a quick step across it to kick off towards the next. He landed on that one too but his last jump was barely long enough and he wobbled on the edge before throwing his weight forwards. Little as I liked Frost, I sighed with relief when he managed to take a step away from the edge.

Without ceremony he hoisted Mom off his shoulder and dropped her next to me. She cried out at the sudden impact.

"Mom?" I threw my arms around her.

"I'm okay, hon'," she assured me, hugging me back. "Are you feeling any better? I don't have any snack bars..."

"Peter found me a little fruit," I assured her. I wanted to ask her about Caleb, I couldn't see the flower but if, by any chance, she'd hung onto him or hidden him then Frost finding out about him could be bad.

Now he grabbed me by the shoulder and lifted me up off the ground.

"Wait," Mom called and reached into her pocket. "Hope needs her medicine." She produced a small aerosol can.

Medicine?

Frost's hand lashed out as Mom removed the cap and he closed his hand around her wrist. "What is this?" he grumbled, forcing her to move the can up in front of his face. "This isn't a bottle. Are you trying to trick me?"

"Yes," Mom said sweetly and pressed down on the valve.

I don't know what was in the can but getting it sprayed into his eyes must have hurt like crazy because Frost screamed shrilly and let go of both of us. I fell back onto the pier but Mom managed somehow to stay upright and she threw herself against him. The big galhot staggered back and off the pier, while Mom fell onto the edge and barely avoided rolling after him.

Peter ran up onto the pier and produced a knife to cut Mom's ankles free of the rope. "What happened? What did you do to him?"

"Pepper spray," she told him succinctly, capping the can again before taking my arm. "It probably won't slow him down for long, we have to run."

The two of them hoisted me up and tried to share my weight as they hurried further up the river side. It wasn't working very well - they didn't take the same length of strides and it was slowing them down.

"Let me carry her," Peter said after the second time they almost dropped me. "Do you think you can hang on to my back?"

I nodded and Mom helped me to climb up piggyback on him. "What happened to Caleb?" I asked as Peter started to trot along. Carrying my weight slowed him to more or less Mom's jogging pace.

Mom's face coloured slightly. "I've still got him," she promised. "I can't get him out right now. I hid him from Frost in my clothes."

"He's not squashed is he?" I asked in horror.

"No, but he's slipped a bit and I don't think I can get him out without taking off more than would be decent."

Peter looked determinedly in the other direction. "You know, if you think you can manage running faster, we should do that. Frost might be out of the river by now and I don't think he'll let you use that stuff on him again."

"I'm feeling very motivated to try," Mom assured him.

W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.

There was no obvious way up the cliff so we followed it, looking for a lower spot, or a stair. Peter was breathing heavily after carrying me around and I'm afraid my stomach was rather rumbling - the snackbars had been an hour or two back and one piece of fruit hadn't gone very far.

Still, the fact that a gnawing sensation in my belly was noticeable compared to the way everything else felt - aches, stabbing pains and the occasional moments when I simply couldn't feel anything in an extremity - was probably a good sign.

There wasn't a road or even a path to follow but nearer to the cliff the orchard had given way to a field of what looked like wheat (although it was at least as tall as I was, almost as tall as Peter's head was) and there was an un-cultivated strip of land between the wheat and the cliff so we simply jogged along that. I wished we were still by the orchard or we could have taken a break and I might have got something to eat.

"I think I see a house up ahead," Mom reported after a moment. "Maybe there's someone that can help us there."

"It's not much of a house, just a shack," Peter pointed out.

"It might also be all they have."

I shifted slightly to see the house - or at least the roof of it - better. Peter was right, it wasn't very impressive. "Let's just hope that they don't decide to capture us for Frost."

"Well you're a little ray of sunshine today," Peter noted.

Turning my head slightly I rested my cheek against his dreadlocks. "Hey, I'm hoping we're okay. I'm just... keeping other possibilities in mind. Planning for them."

"So you can talk them around the way you did Frost? You girls are pretty amazing."

"The others are amazing. You should see what they can do."

"Don't under-estimate yourself, sweetie," Mom disagreed. "I'm proud of Will, but you're the one who convinced that... man to accompany us back towards the city. Without that we might not have had a chance to get away."

"I didn't know you'd be able to knock him back into the river though! I didn't even know you had that stuff."

"I know. But you created the opportunity. You're a smart girl, Hope."

"Smart and cool - you know, calm in a crisis," added Peter. "I love Taranee to bits, but she can be a little hot-headed sometimes. Which sort of fits now that I know about the fire thing."

Well that was nice to hear. I'm not sure how true it was in an objective sense, neither of them being particularly unbiased, but knowing that they thought that was definitely reassuring. There were more pressing concerns anyway. "I think we've been spotted."

The farmer was human - or escanor, I suppose - and he was armed. Okay, with a pitchfork, but it was in good condition and _I_ didn't want to get stabbed with it. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"We fell off the cliff," Mom explained shortly. "We're trying to get back up there. I don't suppose you could point us in the right direction?"

His eyebrows drew together. "Fell off the cliff, did you? You must have had a soft landing. Is the girl hurt?" He didn't lower the pitchfork.

"I'm just tired." I didn't think it was the right time for an explanation. "If you can point us in the right direction then you'll be rid of us."

He grunted. "Fine. Don't want you city folk damaging the crops. Taxes are bad enough. Follow the cliff for another couple of miles and there's a stair someone carved years ago. It's steep, but the next place isn't for as far again and you'll be doing well to get that far before sunset."

"Thanks, man."

The farmer gave Peter an odd look. "You're not from around here? Came for the coronation?"

"Uh, well yes that's right," agreed Mom.

"And somehow you fell off a cliff? I told 'em! I told 'em all there'd be trouble!"

"Well you weren't -"

There was an enraged cry from behind us. Frost's voice unless I missed my guess, and there was a 'sching' noise that sounded ominous.

"- wrong." I craned around but couldn't see far enough behind me - particularly as Peter broke into the fastest run that he could.

The farmer looked about as horrified as I was, practically dropping the pitchfork as we passed him. There was a meaty crunch and he cried out in pain.

"You're _dead_!" Frost snarled. "_Dead_!" It was pretty clear that that was a promise, not a deduction.

There was another scream from the farmer - so at least he wasn't _dead_. Mind you, Frost might change that in a misplaced sense of completion.

After he killed us.

There wasn't even time to ask Peter to drop me and run - if he and Mom split up then Frost might only be able to catch one of them after he killed me. And even if there was time, it would have been rather insulting.

There was, for reasons that I could barely guess at, a brilliant flare of white light from the direction of the city. I didn't have time to think about that.

As if from a great distance I heard Will's voice: *...free this crown and protect those who wear it!*

I felt a weight upon my head and cold metal pressed against my forehead. I had felt this before but this time there was no shock of Phobos spell tearing into me.

"But...!" Frost shouted in disbelief. "What is this!? Are you the princess after all!?"

The Crown of Light was on my head!

Oh no! If Frost got hold of it, he could take it back to Phobos!

The hunter's powerful hand grabbed by shoulder and tore me away from Peter. The boy whirled and I saw Frost draw back his sword for a thrust that would pierce him through the chest.

"_Stop_!" I screamed...

...and the world froze in place around me.

W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.

Peter stared at the sword pointed at him. Frost stood in mid-lunge, me dangling from his offhand. Mom was still turning to look back.

They'd been in those poses for a couple of minutes as I struggled to get loose from Frost's fist. It was deathly quiet. I wasn't entirely sure what had caused this - it couldn't have been me, could it? - but it had reached quite a way.

Hopefully it was keeping the poor farmer alive.

After considerable wriggling - honestly, it was like Frost's every _finger_ had its own bicep (whatever a bicep was, some sort of muscle) - I managed to get myself free of his hand, although the shoulder of Elyon's dress tore in the doing. A small price to pay, as was the flopping to the ground with all the grace and dignity of a bag of groceries.

Careful experimentation determined that I was about up to sitting up but that my legs were definitely going to be up to holding me upright. Okay. I could work with that.

Step one was to turn around and check on the farmer.

...there are no words. I will, I suppose, have to try though. There were bits of his... innards... spilling out. He was alive still, but I think he must have been kind of wishing he wasn't. I hoped he wasn't conscious during this... extended moment I was experiencing, because that would be horrible.

So. Step one was to stop Frost, because right now he was making everything worse. Step two, do something to keep the farmer from dying. Step three... get some food. Ugh, the very thought of eating after looking at Frost's handiwork was enough to kill my desire to eat but the fact was that I needed to.

*Taranee? Will?* I thought, hoping that one of them would hear me. Granted I was nowhere near where they should be, but I'd heard Will earlier anyway so...

There was a faint whisper of noise and when I focused on it, it resolved into Taranee's voice. *Hope?*

*Taranee! Thank goodness! Help!*

*Shouldn't you be safely with Vathek? How are you even telepathic all of a sudden?*

*I don't _know_, the crown just appeared on my head and it sounded like Will was talking and everything froze before Frost could kill Peter -*

*_Peter_! Is he alright!?" the bespectacled Guardian demanded urgently. *What did that monster do!?*

*Nothing yet,* I reassured her quickly. *Everyone's sort of frozen in place except me. But Frost was about to stab him! If it all unfreezes...*

*Can't you do anything? Where are you? What is Vathek doing?*

I took a deep breath. Okay, I needed to keep my head. *We got separated. I'm with Peter and Mom, I don't know where the others are. We're outside the city - there's a cliff with the city at the top and a farm at the bottom.*

WIll entered the conversation and I felt a surge of relief. She was okay. *Hope? I don't think we have much time. Elyon's fighting Phobos but it isn't going well. The Crown of Light vanished when we were clearing it of Phobos' spells.*

*That seems to have worked. Or at least, I'm wearing it and it's not hurting me.*

I could practically hear a relieved sigh. *Well at least that's working, although why... oh! I'm an idiot. I told the Heart to free the crown and -*

*- protect those who wear it,* I finished. *I heard. And since the last person to wear the Crown was me and I was rather in _need_ of protection the Heart must have sent the Crown to me!*

*Is Mom alright?*

*For the moment.* It would probably be best, I decided, to leave telling Will about Mom being captured by Frost until she could check for herself that Mom had survived the experience intact. There might not be time for an extended panic. *Look, I guess we need to get the Crown back to Elyon, but I have a bit of a problem here. If things just start moving...*

*Can you use the Crown of Light to fix that?* asked Taranee. *If you managed to freeze them all in place with it, you might be able to do something else.*

*Like what? Make a sandwich?*

*...*

*I'm still hungry, okay? And it's not as if I understand magic! What am I supposed to do? Wish his sword would turn into sandwich, snap my fingers...* I could at least do that much. -snap- *and... oooh!*

Well I don't suppose that Frost would cause Peter very much harm, stabbing him with a stick of french bread, particularly one that had been cut upon along its length and filled with cheese and bacon and chicken.

*Sis, I can practically see you drooling.*

I crawled over to sit between Peter and Frost, reaching up to the sandwich and pulled it out of Frost's hands, tearing it in two when the end in his hand refused to move. *Hey, it's bad enough seeing the poor guy Frost hit first. I don't want that happening to Peter.*

*Agreed!* Taranee explained. *Whoops, that was close!*

*We're going to have to help Elyon,* agreed Will. *Hope... we'll get to you as soon as we can!*

*Deal with Phobos first,* I insisted. Chances were they'd not be able to find us in a hurry, it wasn't as if I could give good directions. *I'll take care of Mom and Peter.*

Not that I was sure how to do that, but as I chewed on the first bite of the sandwich I could come up with priorities. Disarming Frost didn't make him any the less dangerous since none of us had any means to counter the fact he was as large as any two of us. So the first priority had to be doing something about him or anything else might not work.

The second priority - sorry, Mr Farmer - was getting the crown back to Elyon. Her parents had seemed certain that that would give her an overwhelming advantage againt Phobos. If she and the Guardians were already having trouble then they would need that.

And it would be good if I could help the farmer. Poor man. He'd not asked us to bring this trouble onto his doorstep.

Elyon had been able to heal me with little more than a laying on of hands - or at least so it had seemed. Of course, she'd had weeks of magical education with coaching from Cedric. All I had was a magic crown.

It would have to be enough.

I looked at the pitchfork on the ground. Maybe if I sort of wedged it in front of Frost...

No. That was what he might do. There had to be a better way.

Instead I looked over at the farmer. Okay, it might not be the first priority but for that every reason should I experiment in healing him? But a mistake could kill him. Granted he wouldn't survive if I did nothing. What could I do with this magic?

Well what could the others do?

Conjure fire like Taranee. Make devices talk like Will. Hay Lin could fly... well that might be useful to get to the castle. Cornelia's control of plants could be handy here. Maybe I could use the corn to tie Frost up? Or... what was that? I'd heard something...

Well I'd _already_ turned one thing into another. And Irma had done it within the first few days she'd been a Guardian.

Still, I'd never actually seen a toad. It was easier to imagine a frog. I'd probably better hide him from Will though or she might do something ill-advised.

"Be a frog," I ordered Frost, waving my hand dismissively in that direction.

Nothing happened.

"What? Do I have to say a magic word? _Frog_!"

That did it. Also I dived to save the bit of the sandwich he'd been holding from landing on the ground, which was totally unnecessary since the frog and the sandwich both remained in mid-air. I had a feeling that that wasn't normal physics and it wasn't the sort of question I could reasonably ask a teacher at school.

Also I got dirt on my face and almost lost the sandwich I still had left in my hand. Almost. I took another big bite, cramming as much as I could into my mouth. Manners were clearly less important than hurrying.

Okay. So why had my second attempt succeeded and my first failed? I really needed a teacher. I...

I was being an idiot.

*Miss Rudolph! _Miss Rudolph_! MISS RUDOLPH!*

There was a mental gasp of pain. *Please, not so loud? Is that you, Will? Is everything alright?*

I took a moment to boggle that the Crown was apparently powerful enough for me to reach across the Veil back to Earth. *Sorry. I'm Hope. We've met but you thought I was Will at the time. She might have mentioned me.*

*She did, yes. And you did manage to make quite a splash at Sheffield. So what can I do to help?*

*I sort of need emergency magic lessons. I'm wearing the Crown of Light -*

*You're _what_!*

I took another bite out of the sandwich. One advantage of this sort of communication was that I could talk with my mouth full. *It's a temporary situation. I need to get the crown back to Elyon, but I'm a good way away from her. And... someone's hurt. I want heal him if possible.*

*Oh my goodness! Well I'm not a physician, dear. Who is hurt and how?*

*I don't know his name, he's just a farmer! Frost stuck his sword into him and yanked it out and now there's bits everywhere and - oh no - I can't be sick. Don't be sick, dontbesick. I _cannot_ throw up. Ugh.*

Miss Rudolph sounded more than a little bit alarmed. *Hope, are you sure you aren't hurt too?*

*Elyon said I'd be okay if I kept eating. But that's not important now.*

*If you say so,* she agreed dubiously. *So where was this man stabbed?*

*Um. In the... belly?*

*Oh dear. Are there... sort of sausagey bits spilling out?*

I squinted cautiously. *Ugh. Yes.*

She sighed. *It should all be one long piece. Ideally fix any breaks and put it all back inside him. More practically, just cut away anything two damaged and patch together the ends of what's intact. And hurry, he won't have much time.*

I tried to make sense of what had been ripped out of the farmer. If it had all been in one piece before then it certainly wasn't now. After a moment I gave up. *I can't make any sense of it! Isn't there another way?*

*I... perhaps I'm making this more complicated than it need be. Try asking the Crown for help.*

*Um... do you mean that it's alive?* I asked, reaching up to touch the thing. There was the smoothness of metal but not the cool that I had associated with it.

*I wouldn't go that far, but there's supposed to be some degree of consciousness to help a young Queen until she gains experience. You _want_ the man healed, so if you let it know that then it should help you.*

I ran my fingers over the gem set in the brow of the crown. Where the metal had a gentle warmth, this seemed to almost pulse beneath my fingertip. "Is she right?" I asked. "Will you help me?" I took my hand away and it felt natural to point the finger at the farmer. "Will you help _him_?"

It seemed that the answer was yes. Light - the light of Meridian? - welled up through me. It wasn't coming from me, nor from the crown. This was Meridan's own magic. I could only believe that it would recognise the farmer as one of Meridian's people.

A glow covered the farmer and I hoped - begged really - that it would restore him to full health. To my surprise though, the glow spread back to me. "Hey, I said heal him not me!"

The pain was falling away though and when the glow faded away, I found that I could stand up. (I didn't stop eating the sandwich though). The farmer was sitting up too and Peter and Mom stumbled, calling out and looking around.

"Where is Frost!" Peter shouted. "He was right here, where that frog is!"

"He _is_ the frog," I told him. *Thank you, Miss Rudolph.*

*I'm glad to help, Hope. Now I do have to get back to my _other_ students. It's quite hard to teach magic and maths at the same time!*

*Thanks!* If she was still in Heatherfield next Christmas she was definitely getting a present.

"You're kidding, right?" Peter asked, looking down at the evidently freaking out frog. "How did that happen?"

I flicked my finger at the crown I was wearing. "Elyon's novelty headgear is quite useful."

He glared at the frog for a minute and it stopped in place, staring up at him with wide eyes. "You know, I've never been so tempted to kick a dumb animal."

"I don't know how dumb he is." I looked more closely. "I get the distinct impression he can understand you."

"Then if he does he'd better hop it."

I giggled as Frost took the hint and made his best speed back towards the river.

"It wasn't that funny, dear."

"Frog! Hop it!"

Peter looked at Mom. "Even I think I was being kind of lame."

She shook her head. "Hope hasn't heard all those hoary old jokes a million times. Although I get the impression that Irma's working flat out to fix that."

W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.

The throne room of Phobos' - properly _Elyon_'s, I reminded myself - was a bit of a wreck.

I'd expected that though, so I'd told the Crown to take us to Elyon's rooms, which were rather nice. It was a gamble, of course, since servants might have been inclined to take Phobos side. Then again I was reasonably sure that the servants had seen more of him than most and would have reason to prefer Elyon.

_Finding_ the throne room really wasn't a problem. It was large, it was a focal point of routes through the castle and most importantly -

FWHHOOOMMMMM!

- yeah. Follow the sound of explosions. Unmistakable really.

Mom gave the doors - now leant against the wall opposite the door_way_ - with a certain amount of trepidation. Peter stuck his head around briefly and the castle rocked again while he did so. I licked the last crumbs of the sandwich off my fingers (Mom had insisted I finish it, no matter that I felt better now).

"Elyon's at the other end of the room," Peter murmured, moving back. "Judging by the glowing white ropes around her, I think Phobos won but the others are still protecting her."

"Then he hasn't won yet." A thought struck me. "If she's at the other end does that mean that he's at _this_ end of the room."

"Don't do anything crazy, Hope," Mom warned me and then looked at Peter. "Did you see Will... and the others? Are they okay?"

"All limbs appeared to be attached."

There was a boom and a wave of heat.

"Taranee's steaming mad though," he added slyly.

I restrained myself to a brief giggle. "Now how can we get past Phobos to get to Elyon?"

Mom shook her head. "Probably not the best idea, sweetheart. Are there any doors down at the other end?"

Peter agreed that there were and we worked our way around the adjacent chambers until we found one of them. It rattled as we approached, as if shaken by a fierce wind. Which given that Hay Lin was in there, might well be the truth.

"This doesn't look much better," admitted Mom.

I dropped to my knees and squinted through the keyhole. "It looks okay, the others are covering Elyon and this part of the room's getting sheltered the same way." Turning the handle didn't open the door though - it seemed the lock wasn't just ornamental. "Great."

"Can't you just... zap it?"

I frowned. Probably yes, although how was trickier. And I didn't want to shatter it - that could end up hurting one of the others.

Then I noticed where the hinges were and ran my thumb down the lower of the three. "Let me through please." The metal parted like butter and I repeated the process on the next two, although Peter had to lift me up to get the top one.

"Okay, let's go."

"Let Peter get the door," Mom suggested, pulling me back slightly. "You focus on getting to Elyon quickly." She leant forwards and whispered into my ear "And no showing off to impress Peter. However hot you think he is, we need to win this."

"Mom!"

She kissed the top of my head. "I was young once too."

Peter gripped the door. "On three?"

We nodded.

"One. Two. Three." He yanked it open.

I ran through and saw a pink glow holding back a barrage of green glowing darts flung towards Will.

Taranee and Irma combined their powers and a jet of steaming water hosed across the throne room towards Phobos who raised his hand and gestured sharply to deflect it away from him.

Elyon was indeed bound although it wasn't rope. White bands of energy srapped around her in three places held her suspended slightly off the ground and her head sagged limply, as if she was asleep.

"Hope?" Cornelia exclaimed.

There was a shout from the other end of the throne room. "What! The crown!"

I lifted it high above my hand. "You gave it to me, Phobos. Crowned _me_ Queen if you want to look at it that way. But we both know who it really belongs to."

"NO!"

A crackling stream of black lightning crashed down towards us and all five Guardians fired their own attacks into the beam to halt it.

Weakened by the four elements it clawed ineffectually at the pink shield of magic that Will raised with a sweep of her arm.

I wasn't sure if Phobos words that morning would matter but it seemed like an easy risk to avoid. "Elyon, I offer you the Crown of Light! I bestow upon you this symbol of justice and wisdom. Of honour and loyalty. May your eternal power illuminate the spirit and the path of your loyal subjects."

And then with both hands I placed the Crown on Elyon's head.

The little princess - not that I was any larger than she was - lit up like a lightbulb except much more impressively and the bonds holding her were blotted away is if they had never existed in the first place.

I staggered back, hands moving to cover my eyes. I didn't get the chance because Elyon clasped them between her own. "I'll try to live up to your example, Hope, and to those set by the Guardians." Her face hardened. "And my brother has given me an example of what not to do."

In awakening, Elyon appeared to have grown in stature and Phobos seemed to have shrunk proportionately. Or at least he looked meaner and less significant in comparison. "Damn you!" he shouted impotently, not even bothering to cast a spell against her. "Damn you!"

"That was your plan all along." Elyon waved her hand regally - not the mere flick of a Princess' fingers but a more forceful gesture. One worthy of a queen.

Phobos was driven to his knees as bonds formed around him. They also formed around Cedric, who I now saw was sprawled upon the floor, presumably having been defeated at some point earlier in the battle.

"You've oppressed Meridian... no, all of Metamoor... since our mother died," Elyon pronounced grimly. "If I thought that you'd wanted to steal my magic to rule over them better then I might be able to someday forgive you for that. But all you wanted to do was to break through the Veil so that you could exploit other worlds as well."

"What else is power for!?"

It was not Elyon who answered him.

"You could heal someone," Taranee pointed out.

Cornelia nodded in agreement. "Or you could protect someone."

"Or," Will added with a grin in my direction, "You could create a sandwich."

"Basically," declared Irma. "You don't have any imagination, Phobos!"

W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.

Outside the castle a crowd had formed. When Elyon appeared the cheer that went up seemed to rock the castle.

She'd gone out alone, which left the rest of us standing in the wrecked throne room and for the most part wondering what to do next.

There were some exceptions however. Phobos and the still-unconscious Cedric weren't going to be given any choice in the matter. And Mom had - after a moment of privacy in the corridor outside the room - produced Caleb's flower-body to reunite him with Cornelia. I doubt she was thinking much of anyone but him at the moment and I couldn't blame her.

"So does Elyon have any dungeons that can hold these two?" asked Taranee with a thoughtful look towards Phobos. Peter had his arm around her shoulders and didn't seem likely to let go of his little sister any time soon.

Of course Will and I weren't any different - Mom and I had her flanked, sitting on a fallen pillar. "I'm sure she has them - but I'm not so sure that he might not have some way out of any prison that he's used," she agreed.

Phobos was at least prudent enough not to rant about how 'no prison would keep him'. On the one hand that would be suitably stereotypically villainous so it would be ticking that box as far as experiences went. On the other hand there was a perfectly obvious rebuttal to that and I wasn't sure the Guardians wanted to go there.

I wasn't keen on the idea myself. Still, I wasn't _entirely_ going to rule it out.

It was a depressing thought, much too dark for a moment of victory.

"Maybe he could be turned into something more easily restrained," I suggested. "You're fond of flowers, aren't you, your highness?"

That earned me a glower.

"It's a thought." Will lifted the Heart of Kandrakar. "I don't suppose you have any suggestions how to wrap up our loose ends?"

It really didn't surprise me that she talked to the pendant. After all, she and I were now on first name terms with just about everything electronic in our apartment. And if the Crown of Light had some degree of sapience... the Heart was surely far more so.

In response to the question, the glow of the sphere pulsed briskly.

It caught all of our attention and then the next pulse was far brighter, leaving my vision obscured for an instant.

When the light cleared I was no longer in the throne room.

Instead I sat at one end of a bench in the abandoned amusement park we had left the day before - had it been so little time? Across the avenue, Peter sat upon the bench opposite with the arm that had been around Taranee's shoulders now draped across the back of the bench.

There was no sign of the Guardians - or of Phobos and Cedric (about whom I cared about one thousand times less).

I had time to look for Mom and spot her at the other end of the bench I sat on, similarly confused and alarmed.

Then a portal opened between the two benches. Opened, swept backwards and then closed once more after no more than a second.

In its wake were my sister and our friends - well, the other four Guardians. She had more friends than that I think. Perhaps I might too. They were no longer transformed into Guardians however. Instead they wore the same clothes they had worn on arrival here - still stained by the dirty water of the 'Tunnel of Love'.

"...tell us more?" Hay Lin begged someone - evidently their sudden arrival had cut off a conversation.

Will looked around and spotted Mom and I. "Sorry," she apologised. "Kandrakar hijacked us to take care of Phobos. I hope you weren't worried."

"We hardly had time - we just got here," Mom told her.

Taranee tilted her head slightly. "But... we must have been in Kandrakar for ten, fifteen minutes."

"I get the impression that time doesn't really matter in this business." Peter told her, having moved to his sister's side. "What happened to Phobos and the snake-guy?"

"Kandrakar has a prison," Hay Lin explained. "Grandma... she said they'd be kept there until they repent their evil ways."

Irma nodded her agreement. "So pretty much forever."

"I'm glad to hear that. Does that mean that it's all over?"

Cornelia looked wistful. "This time."

"_This_ time?" Mom repeated my friend's words as a stern question. "This had better be the _last_ time."

Will smiled confidently. "I doubt threats to the cosmos like Phobos come around every week, if they do..."

"If this Kandrakar thing that they can demand more of you than you've already given..."

"We're not going looking for trouble Mom. But if it comes after us... we'll deal with it together."

Mom folded her arms - but she folded them around Will in a hug. "That 'together' had better include everyone's families." She made a beckoning gesture towards Hay Lin, who gave her a startled look, pointing at herself.

Taranee caught the goggled asian girl by the arm and towed her forward to join the hug, Mom freeing one arm from around Will and hooking it around Hay Lin's slim shoulders. Peter hadn't resisted Taranee's pull but Cornelia still seemed engrossed in Caleb, who she held with both hands before her heart.

Irma and I exchanged glances and for once we were in agreement. We each took one of the blonde's elbows and pulled her forwars to join the rest of us.

"Come on, Corny..." Irma began.

"Caleb's part of this too," I added slyly. "No fair keeping him to yourself."

"What!? You two..." she protested.

Irma smirked then darted her hand up to brush a lock of Cornelia's long straight hair back from where it had spilled past her ear and towards her face.

Will and I grinned at each other, my sister surrounded by friends and family, myself part of that precious circle. She slipped one hand out and clasped mine, our fingers interlacing.

W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.

It took no more than a few minutes for families to gather once word was circulated that we had returned.

We'd been away most of a day. Parents had covered for those of us expected to be at school that day. I suspected - and was later to confirm those suspicions - that some of the parents had made excuses to their places of work. In the case of the Lins, that meant the almost unprecedented decision to entrust the Silver Dragon to the junior staff. I gather that holidays for Hay Lin very rarely meant leaving Heatherfield.

Upon the arrival of the Hales, Cornelia went to meet them. It was possible - at leastwith some familiarity - to see the conflict between her usual dignity and the temptation to abandon it and throw herself into their arms. Her father solved that by stepping forwards and taking the paternal privilege of an extended hug.

She looked like she needed it and I think he needed the reassurance too - that his little girl had made it back.

Certainly he wasn't the only parent to deliver hugs. Irma's mother even went around all eight of us of who had returned. I wasn't complaining. Hugs were a goodness.

"So is it all over?" Mr. Lair asked hopefully.

Will shot a look at Cornelia... and at Caleb. "Well there are a few loose ends, but mostly, yes."

"Loose ends?" asked the police officer.

"Caleb - the leader of Meridian's rebels - got turned into a flower. Cornelia's taking care of him."

"He got turned into... a flower?"

"Not a toad?" asked Mr. Cooke.

"No, dad," his son replied. "Although Hope did turn someone into a frog so you might want to be careful."

I shrugged under several questioning looks. "Only once. And he had it coming." That didn't stop the stares so I added: "And I can't do it again."

There was a measure of relief. Apparently adding the ability to - what's the word? Transfigure? - someone into an animal would have been a step too far. I'm not sure what scale they were using in comparing it to being able to conjure fire, command the winds or... well the list went on. Still they appeared to be unanimous so presumably it had some validity.

"I'm pretty sure I..." Irma looked around and for once restrained herself. "...can't do it either."

She totally could. Hopefully she wouldn't. Well, maybe if it was just Uriah...

"Caleb will keep," Mom told us firmly. She put her hands on my neck and Will's. "Come on girls. You'll see your friends again tomorrow at school. Let's go home."

So we went home, together.

W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.

Monday afternoon I was called into the Principal's office a little before the end of the final period. It was history. I'd been on tenterhooks all through the class but Professor Collins hadn't acted the same way that he had before - he only asked me one question and everybody in the class had got asked _something_ so I didn't feel singled out.

"Take your bag with you, Hope." Collins scribbled quickly on a sheet of paper. "Here's today's homework." He smiled slightly. "The same as everyone will be getting in a few minutes."

I took the paper and slipped it into the pages of my textbook before putting that in my backpack. At least I'd have evidence of it if he was up to something again.

Principal Knickerbocker was waiting for me at the door of the office and smiled at me. "You're not in trouble, Hope. Your mother's here to see you."

She opened the door for me and I saw that she was right: Mom was sitting in one of the high-backed chairs of the other office. The other was occupied by Maria Medina of Interpol.

"Mom!" I practically flew to the former's arms. "Is something wrong?"

She hugged me back. "Not that I know of, sweetheart. Ms. Medina wanted to share the hospital's results."

We'd revisited the hospital on Saturday for more blood samples to be taken. Apparently they'd rushed to get results today - or worked on Sunday. Remarkable either way.

I sat down in Mom' lap. I was probably a little too large for that to be comfortable for her but she made no complaint and instead rested her arms loosely around my waist.

"Hello Agent Medina. What did you find out?"

She smiled lightly. "More than the last test showed. Sorry about the difficulty about that. We're still not sure what happened there."

"Does it matter?"

"I suppose not." She straightened slightly, looked out of the window for a moment and then back at us. "Mrs. Vandom, if I recall correctly you told me during an earlier conversation that you had only given birth once? To your daughter Will?"

"Thats right. It would be rather hard to mistake the experience."

"I suppose so," the police psychologist agreed. "Well... it might surprise you then to learn that the tests returned a very high probability that Hope is your biological daughter. The probability of anyone in the world having that close a DNA match to you with more than two degrees of separation - descended from one or more of your grandparents is tiny. Fractions of a percent. Most courts would generally accept that as binding in a paternity case, you know."

"Well, I'm fairly sure that Mom isn't my _father_. Then again, what do I know? I haven't had a single biology class yet."

Maria Medina smiled slightly. "Well... it's indicative that Will's DNA matches Hope's even more closely. More closely than a siblings usually would in fact. Of course, the uncannily close resemblance hinted at this already. I'm afraid there isn't any definite answer, but we're currently tracing the medical staff who attended on Will being born because it seems possible that you may have given birth to twins, Mrs. Vandom."

"I..." Mom seemed flabbergasted. Either she'd never consider this as a possible outcome or she was a _great_ actress.

"If that is the case, that would mean that Hope was abducted at birth," the other woman continued. "The only other likely possibility would be that you and your husband both have close relatives who have had a daughter with each other. We haven't turned up anything like that though. The odds are very good that you really are mother and daughter. I'm sorry I don't have anything more to tell you right now. If we find anything else.."

"Thank you," confirmed Mom. "Uhm... if you don't mind. I'd like a moment with Hope."

"Of course." Medina and Knickerbocker stepped outside politely and I turned in Mom's lap, burrowing my head beneath her chin.

For a moment we shook against each other with emotion. An outside observer might have thought we were crying. Actually we were trying to keep our laughter from being too obvious.

A moment or two later and the bell sounded the end of the school day, prompting us to pull ourselves together. After checking with Maria Medina that she didn't have any other 'revelations' for us we excused ourselves from Principal Knickerbocker (who gave me a smile that suggested she'd have hugged me if it wouldn't have been unprofessional and told me she was very happy for both of us) and went to look for Will and the others.

We found Taranee, Irma and Hay Lin hanging out by the door out of the school. They were easy to find - Irma was certainly making enough noise about her current topic of choice: Cornelia's absence from school.

"...I could have had a tragic romance, but _nooooo..._ so Corny gets a long weekend but Mom and Dad say I have to be back at school today..."

"Who would you have a romance _with_?" asked Hay Lin. "Vathek?"

"I don't think that _Phobos_ was seeing anyone," I offered. "But your dad might not approve. I mean - he _is_ in jail and that hair..."

Irma threw up her hands. "Very funny!"

"I'm trying."

"_Very_ trying," she agreed. At least I _think_ she was agreeing.

"Hi Mom!" called Will as she joined us. "What's the occasion?"

"Nothing too serious." She gave Will a quick hug. "Interpol just wanted to tell me that Hope is my daughter. As if I needed them to tell me that. Do you want a ride home before I go back to work?"

"Thanks Mom, but we're planning on visiting Cornelia. She's still refusing to come to school or... well, to do anything but look after Caleb."

Mom shook her head. "I feel sorry for her, but that's not healthy."

"_Tell_ me about it."

"But please don't," Taranee said and then slapped her hands across her mouth as she realised what she'd said. To an adult!

Mom just joined us in giggling at the expression on the dusky girl's face. "I'll restrain myself."

"Thanks. Cornelia... she wouldn't react well."

"No, perhaps not." I felt Mom ruffle my hair. "Well, if all else fails you can turn Hope loose on her. She's practically weaponized high spirits today."

I drew up my chin. "I'm not going to see Cornelia, I'm going to see Caleb. I may tell him how moody she's being."

Mom chucked me under the chin and gave Will a hug before we parted ways: her back to work and I and my sister and our friends off to the aid of one of our own.

That's what it was all about in the end.

Fini.


End file.
